Anemoi – Greek Wind Gods and Turbulent Myths

 

 

The Anemoi, in Greek mythology, are the four chief and the four minor wind gods, each one corresponding to the direction from whence they came.

All are depicted as having large wings and all are male.

 

The Four Chief Wind Gods

 

1. Boreas, god of the North wind and winter

2. Zephyrus, god of the West wind and Spring,

3. Notus, god of the South wind and summer

4.  Erus, god of the East wind and autumn.

 

 

The Four Minor Wind Gods

 The Anemoi Thuellai – the Tempest-Winds

 

1. Kaikias, god of the Northeast wind

2. Apeliotes, god of the Southeast wind

3. Skiron, god of the Northwest wind

4. Lips or Livos, god of the Southwest wind

 

These wind gods were the sons of Eos, the dawn goddess and her husband, Astraeus, the god of dusk.

Apart from being the father of the wind gods, Astraeus was also considered to be the father of The five Astra Planeta (the Wandering Stars).

All the wind gods were ruled over by Aeolus, known as “The Keeper of the Winds”.

 

The Mythical Floating Island of Aeolia

 

 

 

Aeolus, Keeper of the winds, ruled over the Kingdom of the mythical island of Aeolia.

Various writers, through the ages, have come to associate Aeolia with one or another of the Lipari Islands (also called the Aeolian Islands), north of eastern Sicily.

Strabo, Greek geographer, philosopher and historian (63 B.C. – 24 AD), thought that Strongyle (modern Stromboli), one of the Lipari Islands, was the Aeolus island, yet others were convinced it was the island of Lipara (modern Lipari).

 

 

Homer writes, in his epic work,” The Odyssey”, that:

“Aeolia was purely mythical, a floating island surrounded by “a wall of unbreakable bronze” where the “cliffs run up shear“.

Today, the Aeolian Islands, also known as the Lipari Islands, are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily.

They consist of seven significant islands: Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea plus a set of much smaller islands and rocks.

Could these islands be the legendary kingdom of Aeolus?

 

Aeolus

The Keeper of the Winds

 

 

 Aeolus is rather a confusing figure in Greek mythology as he appears as three different characters:

1. Aeolus, the son of Hippotes and keeper of the winds (Our Aeolus written about in this post)

2. Aeolus, the half-mortal son of Poseidon and Aeolus,

3. Aeolus, son of Hellen (Thought to mean Helen of Troy)

The Hellen of number three, is not even a woman but is Hellen, or Hellinas, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, the first “Hellenes” of “Hellas”; the Greeks of Greece.

 

 

All we can really gather about Aeolus from Homer is that his father was Hippotes and that he had six daughters, whom he gave to his six sons as wives.

 Aeolus and his family lived happily on the idyllic island Aeolia, where, it is said, Aiolos kept the four minor wind gods, the Anemoi Thuellai, the Tempest-Winds, kept locked away inside a cave on his island, unleashing them only on the say so of Zeus when it was time to wreak devastation upon the world.

 

Aeolus and Mythology

 Encounter with Odysseus

 

 

In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus and his men, on their way home to the Ionian island of Ithaca, after ten years of war, washed up on the island of Aeolia, home of Aeolus, the keeper of winds.

There they stayed for a month or so, entertaining their generous host, Aeolus, with tales of the seemingly never-ending Trojan Wars and their so far, disastrous, journey home.

 

 

When it was time for his guests to leave, Aeolus, feeling rather sorry for them, after all their trials and tribulations, gave Odysseus a bag, in which were captured  “the blustering winds“, that is, all except Zephyrus, the gentle west wind, which Aeolus had sent ahead of Odysseus and his crew to ensure them a calm journey home.

 

 

Behind Odysseus’s back, however, his crewmates, thinking the bag held treasure, which Odysseus was keeping for himself, foolishly opened the bag, setting free the unruly winds which then promptly blew their ship straight back to Aeolia!

Upon seeing the men returning, Aeolus said to himself “these sailors just can’t seem to find their way home, what evil must they have done to make the gods hate them so?”

As Odysseus was about to drop anchor for the second time at the island Aeolia, Aeolus shouted to them:

“Begone from our island with speed, thou vilest of all that live. In no wise may I help or send upon his way that man who is hated of the blessed gods. Begone, for thou comest hither as one hated of the immortals.”

The Roman equivalent of Aeolus is Aiolos.

 

The Four Wind Gods of Greek Mythology

 

 

 

 

Boreas

God of the North Wind and Winter

 

 

Boreas, whose name meant North Wind or Devouring One, (perhaps derived from the Greek verb boraô meaning “to devour”), was extremely strong and had a violent temper to match!

He was the bringer of snow and hail, the strongest and fastest of all winds, known for his capacity for great destruction.

Boreas was usually depicted in striking poses as a winged old man with shaggy hair and beard, holding a conch shell and wearing a billowing cloak

 

Hyperborea

The Land of the North Wind (Hence its name)

 

 

In most of the older myths, Boreas lived in a splendid white palace in caves on the mountains of Thrace, in northern Greece.

However, many ancient historians identify Hyperborea as being the home of Boreas, the North wind.

In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans were a mythical people living in the far north of the known world; the land beyond Boreas.

In spite of their home being located in one of the most freezing cold parts of the world, the Hyperboreans were believed to be of a sunny disposition.

 

 

There was some debate between ancient scholars on exactly where Hyperborea actually was but the main consensus was that it was to be found somewhere in the far north.

Homer placed Hyperboreans in Thrace, northern Greece, as did Sophocles and Aeschylus.

 

The Riphean Mountains

 

 

In many versions of the myth, the Hyperboreans lived north of the Riphean Mountains, which protected them from the North Wind.

Again there was much debate as to where these mountains were to be found.

Hecataeus of Miletus believed the Riphean Mountains to be next to the Black Sea, whilst Pindar placed the home of Boreas, the Riphean Mountains and Hyperborea all near the Danube.

The name of the Riphean Mountains is most likely derived from the Ancient Greek ripi – ῥιπή meaning “wind gust”.

Only after Historian Sigismund von Herberstein (1486 – 1566), in his Notes on Muscovite Affairs (1549), had discovered there  were mountains behind the Pechora; (the sixth-longest river in Europe) and identified them as the Riphean Mountains and Hyperboreans of ancient writers and hisorians, did the existence of the Ural become recognised in the Western geography.

The Middle and Southern Ural were still mostly inaccessible and unknown to the Russian and Western European geographers.

The Riphean Mountains correspond roughly with the Volga region of modern-day Russia.

 

Boreas and Mythology

Association with horses

 

 

The offspring of Boreas were not always male or female figures, he is actually said to have fathered twelve immortal horses by transforming into a black stallion and mounting some of the beautiful 3.000 mares which belonged to King Erichthonius, thought to be one of the richest men in the world.

These horses were well-known not only for being able to cross a wheat field without breaking the stalks of wheat but for also being able to run over waves.

Two of the Hippoi Athanatoi; the immortal horses of the gods, Balius and Xanthus, born to one of the Harpies, were thought to be offspring of Boreas, who himself drew the chariot of Zeus in the form of a horse.

This pair of horses were now the property of King Erechtheus; presented to the king by Boreas as atonement for the abducting the king’s daughter, Orithyia

 

The Abduction of Orithyia

 

 

 The most famous myth associated with Boreas is his abduction of Orithyia (whose name meant “Mountain Gale”), the beautiful daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens and his wife, Praxithea,

Boreas had been after Orithyia for a while and was now fed up with the empty promises of her father, King Erechtheus, after persistently asking him for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

One day, Boreas, upon seeing Orithyia dancing on the banks of the River Ilissus, could take no more; he took matters into his own hands and quickly wrapped Orithyia in a cloud, ravished and then kidnapped her.

Boreas took Orithyia home to Thrace were they produced two sons; the Boreads; Zetes and Calais and two daughters; Chione and Cleopatra.

 

Boreas Helps against the Enemy

 

 

According to the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, the Athenians were instructed by an Oracle, to request help from the North wind, Boreas, when their city was under threat of invasion from the Persians.

It was said that Boreas dashed to their help and sank 400 Persian ships during the Battle of Artemisium in 480 BCE.

During the Greco-Persian Wars, thousands of Persians, under the rule of Xerxes I, crossed the Hellespont connecting Asia and Europe.

Their aim was the complete domination of Greece.

Greek General Themistocles decided to use the pass at Thermopylae to stop the Persians, to do this, the Greeks needed to block the Straits of Artemisium.

So, as thousands of Greeks, under command of King Leonidas of Sparta, marched north to block Thermopylae, Themistocles ordered the evacuation of Athens and sailed the Greek fleet to Cape Artemisium, located on the northern point of Euboea.

When the Persians arrived at Thermopylae they didn’t immediately attack but waited to see if the Greeks would run away upon being confronted by such a huge army (They clearly didn’t know the Greeks!).

 

 

 A day later, the Persian fleet was spotted nearing Artemisium, it was clear their decision had been made; the battle was on!

Was it Fortune, or was it Boreas, god of the North wind, who smiled at the Greeks that day, as a huge storm lasting two days flung the Persian ships against the rocks?

Approximately a third of the Persian fleet was lost in the storm.

After the winds had died down the Greeks sailed north to meet their enemies.

Herodotus was doubtful the sinking of the Persian fleet had anything to do with Boreas, however, he says, the Athenians were so convinced Boreas had answered their calls for help that they erected a shrine in his honour, on the banks of the River Ilissus.

Furthermore, it seems a cult sprang up in Athens in 480 B.C., in appreciation to Boreas for annihilating the Persian fleet.

Two more cases of Boreas being honored by the Greek state, for giving assistance, have been described; one when he helped the citizens of Megalopolis against the Laconians.

The second occurred in Thurii, a Greek Colony situated on the Gulf of Taranto, near or on the site of the well-known Greek city of Sybaris, when he is said to have destroyed a fleet of ships belonging to Dionysios I of Syracuse, who had attacked them.

 

 

The North Wind and the Sun – Boreas and Helios

One of  Aesop’s  Fables

 

 Boreas and his uncle, the sun god Helios, argued about who was the stronger of the two.

They both claimed that they could undress a travelling man the quickest.

To resolve the argument they decided to have a competition; the one who could make a passing traveller remove his cloak first, would be the winner.

Boreas was the first to have a go.

He blew an icy wind as hard as he could at the man, trying to rip off his cloak, however, this had the opposite effect, the man just strengthened his grip on his cloak, wrapping it more tightly around him and took shelter in a nearby cave.

 

 

Boreas gave up and told Helios it was his turn.

Instead of decreasing the temperature, Helios did the opposite; slowly increasing the temperature until the traveller came out of the cave and then took this opportunity to fire scorching rays of heat upon him.

The man began to undress, discarding one item of clothing after the other, until he was completely undressed and then jumped in the river to cool down.

 

 

You’ve guessed who the winner was, right?

 

Boreas and Leto

 

 

 Leto, a Titan goddess, had become pregnant with Zeus’ children; the twins Apollo and Artemis.

Zeus at that time, was married to the vengeful Hera, goddess of marriage childbirth and children.

Hera was out for revenge and as a result forbid anyone to help Leto.

Hera’s evil reputation was well-known; no one was prepared to defy her, which left poor Leto with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

Hera sent a monstrous python, sometimes called Pytho, to chase the pregnant Leto all over the earth, to prevent her giving birth to her husband’s children.

The python caught up with Leto near Delphi, however, boreas saved the day after Zeus instructed him to rescue her and carry her to the sea god Poseidon, who then took her to the island of Delos, where she gave birth to Apollo and Artemis.

The Roman equivalent of Boreas was Aquilo, or Aquilon.

 

Notus

 God of the South Wind and Summer

 

 

Notos was god of the cooling south wind, a rain-bringer, whose job it was to bring rainclouds, which would and refresh the earth and bring forth new life.

 On the other hand though, he was linked to hot, dry winds which appeared with the rise of The Dog Star Sirius after midsummer, which was thought to bring the storms of late summer and autumn; the destroyer of crops.

Known as “Notus the south wind; sultry and very wet”, it was a vigorous, stormy and dangerous wind, particularly to sailors, who feared him, especially when he blew together with the north wind.

Notus  is portrayed as a young, beardless man with long hair, wearing a short coat with one open arm.

 He holds in his hands an upturned amphora; a hydria, from which the rain poured out, or a sheaf of wheat and a scythe.

 

 

Notus was said to live in a palace in Aithiopia; in ancient times the unmapped land found south of the Sahara desert.

It’s thought each of the Anemoi; the Greek wind gods, had their own palace at the furthest reaches of the earth, however, as it is with families, the four winds were frequently found together, at the home of their father, on the floating, mythical island of Aeolia.

 In contrast to his more renowned brothers, Notus is hardly mentioned in mythology, when he is, it’s mostly in conjugation with his brothers.

 

Let it Rain

 

 

 Whist getting ready for The Deucalion Deluge, at the strategic moment, Zeus imprisoned the North Wind, Boreas and gave orders to Notus, the South Wind, to let it loose and let it pour!

In the meantime, the goddess Iris was frantically funneling water into the rain clouds whilst down on Earth, the Potamoi; the river gods were breaking their banks.

 

A Walk on Part

 

 

In the Dionysiaca, an ancient Greek epic poem, the main subject of which is the life of Dionysus, his expedition to India, and his triumphant return to the west, Notus has a walk on part, when he serves water to Demeter, goddess of the harvest and agriculture, when she pays a visit to Dionysus.

 

Dinner out with the Family

 

 

  In the Iliad, one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, Notus dined together with his brothers, Boreas and Zephyrus, in an unnamed far away land.

There, Iris, the personification of the rainbow, messenger of the gods and the consort of Zephyrus, visited them in order to summon Boreas and Zephyrus to blow on the funeral pyre of Patroclus, a hero of the Trojan War as Achilles, his lover, also a hero of the war, was asking for their help because the pyre had failed to ignite.

 

Stranded on the Island of the Sun

 

Later on, Notus and Eurus, cause Odysseus to become stranded on Thrinacia, the island of the sun-god Helios, for one whole month.

 

 

The Southern Land

 

The Roman equivalent of Notus was Auster, from which the name Australia, “The southern land”, is derived, a name given to a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere in ancient times.

 

 Eurus

 God of the East Wind and Autumn

 

 

Eurus was god of the East wind, a turbulent wind which tossed ships about on the sea and as a wind of storms, who brought rain and tornadoes, he was a competitor of his brothers Zephyros, the West Wind and Notos the South Wind, however, he was much kinder to people than his brothers.

Thought of as a as a melancholic and rainy wind, Eurus is usually shown as an old man with a rather sad face, long hair and an unkempt beard, wearing heavy clothes.

His symbol is water spilling from an upside down vase.

His Roman counterpart was Vulturnus, not to be confused with Volturnus, a tribal river-god who later became a Roman deity of the River Tiber.

 

Eurus and Mythology

 

 

 Most ancient Greek authors seem to have had no interest in Eurus whatsoever, or maybe it’s just that Eurus never did anything interesting enough to write home about, either way, there’s very little info out there about Eurus, god of the East wind.

In his rare appearances Eurus is usually paired with Notus, the south wind, as Zephyrus is paired with Boreas, the North wind.

As you can see, there’s not much and all mentions of Eurus, in Greek mythology, come from Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey, as I have mentioned previously, when he and all his wind brothers are given, captured in a bag, by Aeolus, keeper of the winds, to Odysseus and his men, to help them get back home to Ithaca, after ten years of war with the Trojans.

 

 

A while after the above event, after their departure from the island of Circe, Eurus is mentioned again, when he and Notus manage to keep Odysseus and his crew stranded on the island of Thrinacia, the island home to the Cattle of Helios, the sun god, for a whole month.

 

 

When Odysseus left Ogygia, the nymph Calypso’s island, who had imprisoned him there for seven years, the sea-god Poseidon, in a fit of anger, let loose all four winds, Eurus included, causing a storm, in order to raise great waves and drown him.

The Roman equivalent of Eurus is Euros.

 

 Zephyrus

 God of the West Wind and Spring

 

 

Zephyrus was the gentle wind god of the west who brought the spring rains, so valuable for reawakening nature and the blooming of the lands; hence people called him the protector of the plants, because he brought them humidity.

Zephyrus, regarded as the gentlest of the four wind gods, was said to live in a cave in the area of Thrace, in Northern Greece.

He was described as a young man with a beautiful face and long wavy hair and carried within the cloak, which encircled his body, a mass of flowers and fruit.

 

Zephyrus and Mythology

 

 

Zephyrus apparently had different wives in different stories.

 

The Women of Zephyrus

 

He was said to be the husband of his sister Iris, goddess of the rainbow and to have abducted the goddess Chloris, another of his sisters, who he had fought over with his brother Boreas, eventually winning her devotion.

Once they were married, Zephyrus turned Chloris into a goddess and together, they had a son, Karpos ((meaning fruit).

Some would have it that Carpus was the son of Zephyrus and the nymph Hora and that Carpus had drowned in the Maeander River when the wind drove a wave into his face, which drove his lover Calamus to take his own life.

Zephyrus is said to have had yet another sister who was also his lover, the harpy Podarge (also known as Celaeno).

 

The Iliad

 

 

In the Iliad, as I mentioned in the stories of Notus and Boreas, Zephyrus is visited by Iris, as he dines with his wind brothers, who summons him, along with Boreas, to blow upon the funeral pyre of Patroclus, a hero of the Trojan War, as his lover Achilles, another war hero, is begging for their help because the pyre has failed to ignite.

 

Zephyrus – Aphrodite – Odysseus

 

Zephyrus was the wind that guided Aphrodite to the sea of Paphos when she was born and the only wind Odysseus allowed to help him find his way to Ithaca.

 

The Myth of Hyacinth the Spartan Prince

 

 

The most well-known myth concerning Zephyrus is that of Hyacinth, a handsome and athletic Spartan prince.

Known for his great beauty, Hyacinth, was a lover of Apollo, the sun god, however, he was much desired by the West wind Zephyrus, who was so jealous of Apollo that  he was just biding his time, until an opportunity came along, to put Apollo out of the running.

One afternoon, the opportunity arose when Apollo and Hyacinth were throwing a discus around.

 Showing off to his lover, Hyacinth ran to catch the discus, Zephyrus saw his chance and blew the discus off course causing it to strike Hyacinth on the head, felling him instantly.

 

 

 As Apollo wept over Hyacinth, his tears, which dropped on the ground, turned into the beautifully scented flowers, the hyacinths., 

Eros (Cupid) and Psyche

 

 

In the myth of Eros (Cupid) and Psyche, the wind god Zephyrus, helped Eros, the god of love, by carrying Psyche, the love of his life, to his palace, from a cliff upon where she had been abandoned.

Later, Zephyrus also helps transport Psyche’s two sisters to the island, which, as it turns out, was a bad idea.

On witnessing Psyches’ luxurious lifestyle, the sisters, filled with envy, did all they could to try and destroy her and take all Psyche had for themselves, Eros included.

After Eros had abandoned Psyche, thinking she had betrayed him, after believing the poisonous lies told to him by her sisters, whom he banished from his palace, both sisters took advantage of the situation and each one, independently, set out to become his new wife.

Both sisters returned to the cliff where it all began and called for Zephyrus to again, take them to Eros’s palace, however, this time Zephyrus did not act and they both fell to their deaths below.

The Roman equivalent of Zephyrus is Zéphuros.

 

The Minor winds

 Anemoi Thuellai – The Tempest-Winds

 

 

In addition to the four chief winds, were four lesser winds; the Anemoi Thuellai, the Tempest-Winds:

Apeliotus – the south-east wind – Lips or Livos – the south-west wind, Sciron – the north-east wind and Caecus – the north-west wind.

Legend has it that these four minor winds are wicked and violent daemons, created by Typhon, a monstrous serpentine giant; one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology.

 

Kaikias

God of the Northeast Wind

 

 

Kaikias, whose name derives from the Greek kakía (κακία), meaning “badness” or “evil” was the god of the northeast wind, the bearer of snow, coldness and blizzards.

He is depicted as a bearded man holding a shield full of hail-stones.

The Roman equivalent to Kaikias was Caecius.

 

Apeliotes

God of the Southeast Wind

 

 

Apeliotes was the god of the Southeast wind, thought to bring refreshing rain, advantageous to farmers.

He is usually shown as a clean-shaven man with a friendly expression and curly hair, wearing gumboots and carrying fruit, draped with a transparent cloth which conceals either flowers or grain.

Apeliotes or Apheliotes means, in Greek, “from the rising sun”.

The Roman equivalent to Apeliotes was Apeliotus.

 

Skiron

God of the Northwest Wind

 

 

Skiron, or Skeiron, was the Greek god of the northwest wind.

His name is associated to Skirophorion, the last three months of spring in the Attic festival calendar.

 He is shown as a bearded man holding an upturned pot of hot ashes and charcoal, symbolizing either the coming of winter or maybe forest fires.

Skiron was the name used in Athens for the wind which blew from the Scironian rocks, near Kineta, to the west of Athens.

The Roman equivalent to Skiron or Skeiron was Sciron.

 

Lips or Livos

God of the Southwest Wind

 

 

 Lips or Livos was the god of the southwest wind.

He is usually depicted barefoot with the stern of a ship under his arm, which could either mean shipwrecks, or good sailing weather.

The Roman equivalent to Lips or Livos was Africus, thought to be derived from the name of a North African tribe, the Afri, owing to the Roman province Africa being southwest of Italy.

 

Tower of the Winds – Roman Agora – Athens

Named for the Eight Greek Wind Gods

 

 

The Tower of the Winds, an octagonal structure, also known as a horologion, meaning timepiece, may have been an astronomical clock, built to measure time, which showed a calendar and the movements of the major star groups.

 It stands in the Roman Agora, under the Acropolis, in Athens.

 

 

It was built by the Syrian architect, Andronicus Cyrrhestes, in about 50 BC at the latest, as it was mentioned  in De re rustica (“On Agriculture”) or Res rusticae (“Agriculture”) written in  about 37 BC by Marcus Terentius Varro (116 – 27 B.C.), who was regarded as ancient Rome’s greatest scholars.

The tower was originally topped by a bronze statue of a Triton, holding a rod which acted as a weather vane which, sadly, has completely disappeared.

It also housed a large water clock and incorporated sundials placed prominently on its exterior faces

Raised on three steps, the Tower of the Winds is 12 meters (39 ft) tall with a diameter of about 8 meters (26 ft).

 

 

The Tower was converted into a Qadirî tekke, sometime between 1749 and 1751 and was used as a gathering place for the Qadirî dervish orders, who performed their religious rituals there until it was evacuated after the Greek revolt of 1821.

 

 

All eight of the ancient Greek wind gods can be seen in relief form, decorating the top part of the octagonal, Tower of the Winds.

Each of its eight sides faces a point on the compass and features a frieze depicting reliefs of the eight wind gods and was probably originally painted, with each of their names carved above them.

 

 

The eight wind gods portrayed are the four chief wind gods; Boreas – god of the North wind, Notus – god of the South wind, Eurus – god of the East wind, Zephyrus – God of the west wind and the four minor winds, Kaikias – Northeast, Apeliotes – Southeast, Lips or Livos – Southwest and Skiron – Northwest.

 

 

1762

The Tower of the Winds now is well and truly on the Map

 

 

 

The tower of the Winds became better known outside Greece after 1762, when a description and several engraved illustrations were published in London in the first volume of The Antiquities of Athens.

Originally published in four volumes that appeared between 1762 and 1816, James “Athenian” Stuart and Nicholas Revett’s monumental Antiquities of Athens was the first accurate assessment of ancient Greek architecture ever accomplished.

 Based on exact measured drawings, done in situ at the ancient ruins between 1751 and 1754, the books set a new standard for archaeological research in the eighteenth century.

They changed the understanding of Greek architecture, showed us the difference between Greek and Roman examples and fueled the Greek revival movement that had dominated British, European and American architecture and design for over a century.

 

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