From DG SHOULER
Re ‘Parachutes and straw hats’ (Review, 18 June). Heracles won the princess
Iole in an archery contest, but was bilked of his prize by her father, King
Eurytus. Heracles and his friends attacked and pillaged Oechalia, and killed
the king and his son. Determined not to surrender to Heracles, Iole leapt
from the city wall. She survived because her skirts billowed out and broke
her fall.
This aspect of the story would seem to indicate the Greeks were aware
of the principle of the parachute. It was recorded by Plutarch, but must
have been circulating much earlier.
D. G. Shouler Wellington, New Zealand
