Abaris, making his way to aid Greece in its hour of need on a flying arrow, is playfully compared to the Flying Doctor service. And Alexander, surveying the world on a throne carried through the skies by a great bird, is foreshadowing the passengers transported by Lufthansa's crane or Garuda's bird-god. Perhaps because they are part of a humble genre, dreams of flying in the oneirocritic writers are not mentioned. Still, there is much that is useful in the emphasis on the details of flight discussed throughout. It is difficult for humans or gods to fly under their own power with decorum.
Most gods simply arrive without comment.
Only those who want to impress spend any time in the air. And Iris' use of the rainbow as a slide between Olympus and earth is hardly the behaviour of a major divinity. As the author rightly notes, before the technical realisation of flight, man can still dream of air and space travel, wondering at the means and making jokes at the danger involved. Fortunately, for the Eurocentric Romans at least, he is persuaded by Athena to change his flight path to cross North Africa instead.