ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and Greek mythology, mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and Cult (religious practice), cult practices. The application of the modern concept ...

and

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, the Anemoi () were wind gods who were each ascribed a

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The ...

from which their respective winds came (see

Classical compass winds In the Greco-Roman world, ancient Mediterranean world, the classical compass winds were names for the points of geographic direction and orientation, in association with the anemoi, winds as conceived of by the ancient Greece, ancient Greeks and ...

), and were each associated with various

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

s and

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

conditions. They were the progeny of the goddess of the dawn

Eos In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Eos (; Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic Greek, Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic Greek, Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric Greek, Doric ''Āṓs'') is the go ...

and her husband, the god of the dusk,

Astraeus In Greek mythology, Astraeus () or Astraios () is the son of Crius and Eurybia, and the consort of Eos. He is said to be the father of the winds. Etymology His name "Astraeus" (Ancient Greek , translit. ''Astraîos'') is derived from the G ...

Etymology

The earliest attestation of the word in Greek and of the worship of the winds by the Greeks, are perhaps the

Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the earliest attested form of the Greek language. It was spoken on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC). The language is preserved in inscriptions in Linear B, a script first atteste ...

word-forms , , , , i.e. "priestess of the winds". These words, written in

Linear B Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...

, are found on the KN Fp 1 and KN Fp 13 tablets.

Mythology

The Anemoi are minor gods and are subject to

Aeolus In Greek mythology, Aiolos, transcribed as Aeolus (; ; ) refers to three characters. These three are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which. Diodorus Siculus m ...

. They were sometimes represented as gusts of wind, and at other times were personified as

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

ed men. They were also sometimes depicted as

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s kept in the stables of the storm god Aeolus, who provided

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

with the Anemoi in the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

''. The

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

were reported to sacrifice a horse to the winds on

Mount Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus () is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet Elias" (Elijah). The name is o ...

, the astrological deity (sometimes associated with

), and

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

, the goddess of the

dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

, were the parents of the Anemoi, according to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

poet

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

. Of the four chief Anemoi, Boreas (Aquilo in

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

) is the north wind and bringer of cold winter air,

Zephyrus In Greek mythology and religion, Zephyrus () (), also spelled in English as Zephyr (), is the god and personification of the West wind, one of the several wind gods, the Anemoi. The son of Eos (the goddess of the dawn) and Astraeus, Zephyrus is t ...

(Favonius in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

)Aulus Gellius 2.22.12. is the west wind and bringer of light spring and early-summer breezes, and

Notus In Greek mythology and religion, Notus () is the god of the south wind and one of the Anemoi (wind-gods), sons of the dawn goddess Eos and the star-god Astraeus. A desiccating wind of heat, Notus was associated with the storms of late summer and ...

(Auster in

) is the south wind and bringer of the storms of late summer and autumn;

Eurus In Greek mythology and religion, Eurus () is the god and personification of the east wind, although sometimes he is also said to be southeast specifically. He is one of the four principal wind gods, the Anemoi, alongside Boreas (north wind), Ze ...

, the southeast (or according to some,Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary. the east) wind, was not associated with any of the three Greek seasons, and is the only one of these four Anemoi not mentioned in Hesiod's ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' () is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogy, genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Homeric Greek, epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1,022 lines. It is one ...

'' or in the ''

Orphic Hymns The ''Orphic Hymns'' are a collection of eighty-seven ancient Greek hymns addressed to various deities, which were attributed in antiquity to the mythical poet Orpheus. They were composed in Asia Minor (located in modern-day Turkey), most likel ...

''. The deities equivalent to the Anemoi in

were the Venti (

, "winds"). These gods had different names, but were otherwise very similar to their Greek counterparts, borrowing their attributes and being frequently conflated with them. Ptolemy's world map listed 12 winds: Septentrio (N), Aquilo (NNE), Vulturnus (NE), Subsolanus (E), Eurus (SE), Euroauster (SSE), Austeronotus (S), Euronotus (SSW), Africus (SW), Zephirus (W), Eurus (NW), Circius (NNW).

Boreas

Boreas is the god of the north wind and the harshest of the Anemoi. He is mostly known for his abduction of the Athenian princess

Orithyia In Greek mythology, Orithyia or Oreithyia (; ; ) was the name of the following women: *Orithyia or Orythya, the Nereid of raging seas and one of the 50 marine-nymph daughters of the ' Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. She and he ...

, by whom he became the father of the

Boreads The Boreads () are the two "wind brothers" in Greek mythology. They consist of Zetes (also Zethes) () and Calaïs (). Their place of origin was Thrace, home of their father Boreas (god), Boreas (the North wind). Description Zetes and Calais w ...

. In art, he is usually depicted as a bearded, older man. His Roman equivalent is called ''Aquilo''.

Zephyrus

Affreschi romani - pompei - nozze zefiro e clori particolare

Zephyrus (Gk. []), sometimes shortened in English to ''Zephyr'', is the Greek god of the west wind. The gentlest of the winds, Zephyrus is known as the fructifying wind, the messenger of spring. It was thought that Zephyrus lived in a cave in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. Zephyrus was reported as having several wives in different stories. He was said to be the husband of Iris, goddess of the rainbow. He abducted the goddess

Chloris In Greek mythology, the name Chloris (; Greek Χλωρίς ''Chlōrís'', from χλωρός ''chlōrós'', meaning "greenish-yellow", "pale green", "pale", "pallid", or "fresh") appears in a variety of contexts. Some clearly refer to different ch ...

, and gave her the domain of flowers. With Chloris, he fathered Karpos ('fruit'). He is said to have vied for Chloris's love with his brother Boreas, eventually winning her devotion. Additionally, with yet another sister and lover, the

harpy In Greek and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; ) is a half-human and half-bird mythical creature, often believed to be a personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems. Descriptions Harpies were generally depict ...

Podarge In Greek mythology, Podarge () is a harpy, a personification of a swift wind and mate of Zephyrus, the West Wind. She is the mother of Balius and Xanthus — two divine horses renowned for their swiftness and who were gifted to Achilles, running ...

(also known as

Celaeno In Greek mythology, Celaeno (; ''Kelaino'', lit. 'the dark one', also Celeno or Kelaino, sometimes Calaeno) referred to several different figures. * Celaeno, one of the Pleiades. She was said to be mother of Lycus and Nycteus, of King Eurypyl ...

), Zephyrus was said to be the father of Balius and Xanthus,

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

' horses. In the story of

Eros and Psyche Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psy ...

, Zephyrus served

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

(or Cupid) by transporting Psyche to his abode. Zephyrus was also claimed to have killed one of Apollo's many male lovers

Hyacinth ''Hyacinthus'' is a genus of bulbous herbs, and spring-blooming Perennial plant, perennials. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and are commonly called hyacinths (). The genus is native predomin ...

out of jealousy. Hyacinth was killed by a discus thrown by Apollo. Though according to some sources, his death was said to be an accident, others said that Zephyrus was the true culprit, having blown the discus off course.

Notus

''Notus'' (, ) was the Greek god of the

south wind The south wind is the wind that originates from the south and blows north. South Wind may also refer to: * ''South Wind'' (film), 2018 Serbian film * ''South Wind'' (TV series), 2020 Serbian TV series * , 2021 Serbian film * , 2022 Serbian TV s ...

. He was associated with the desiccating hot wind of the rise of

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

after

midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...

, was thought to bring the storms of late summer and early autumn, and was feared as a destroyer of crops. Notus' equivalent in Roman mythology was Auster, the embodiment of the

sirocco Sirocco ( ) or scirocco is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season. Names ''Sirocco'' derives from '' šurūq'' (), verbal noun o ...

wind, a southerly wind which brings cloudy weather, powerful winds and rain to southern Europe. (''Auster'' named the

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

point '' Australis'' and the country's name ''

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

''.) The Auster winds are mentioned in

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

Book II, lines 304–307: Another Roman poet,

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a few r ...

1.1, lines 47–48, speaks of the pleasure of lying in bed on rainy winter days: The name ''Australia'' (the "southern land") is derived from ''Auster''.

Eurus

''Eurus'' (, ) according to some was the southeast wind, but according to others the east wind. On the

Tower of the Winds The Tower of the Winds, known as the in Greek, and by #Names, other names, is an octagonal Pentelic marble tower in the Roman Agora in Athens, named after the eight large reliefs of wind gods around its top. Its date is uncertain, but was compl ...

in Athens, Eurus occupies the southeast side, while Apeliotes is in the east. However, it is widely accepted that Eurus is the east wind, while Apeliotes is the southeast wind. Eurus' Roman counterpart is Vulturnus, according to

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

; but for

Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...

Volturnus was the equivalent of the southeast wind Euronotus. In the Latin poems, the name Eurus is generally used for the east or southeast wind, as in Greek. Eurus is a wind of storm, described as a turbulent wind during storms and tossing ships on the sea. He is referred to as the "savior of Sparta" in a Homeric

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice ( monody). It comes from the Greek (also or ), "song ...

, or poem. Eurus is also called the "hot wind" by Nonnus in

Dionysiaca The ''Dionysiaca'' (, ''Dionysiaká'') is an ancient Greek epic poem and the principal work of Nonnus. It is an epic in 48 books, the longest surviving poem from Greco-Roman antiquity at 20,426 lines, composed in Homeric dialect and dactylic hex ...

. Eurus is closely related to Helios in passages of the Dionysiaca, being called from his place near

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

' palace, Phaethon, where the sun rose in the east.

Lesser winds

Four lesser wind deities appear in a few ancient sources, such as at the

in Athens: Kaikias (or Caecius) is the Greek deity of the northeast wind. He is shown on the monument as a bearded man with a shield full of hailstones. Apeliotes (or Apheliotes; the name means 'from the (rising) sun') is the Greek deity of the southeast wind. As this wind was thought to cause a refreshing rain particularly beneficial to farmers, he is often depicted wearing high boots and carrying fruit, draped in a light cloth concealing some flowers or grain. He is clean-shaven, with curly hair and a friendly expression. Because Apeliotes is a minor god, he was often syncretized with Eurus, the east wind. The Roman counterpart of Apeliotes is Subsolanus. Skiron was the name used in Athens for the wind which blew from the Scironian rocks (a geographical feature near

Kineta Kineta () is a beach town in West Attica, Greece. Since 2017 it is a separate community of the municipality Megara. Name The name "Kineta" comes from the Albanian word "këneta", which means "small lagoon" or "marsh". In 1700, the town was menti ...

to the west of Athens). On the

, however, he appears on the northwest side. His name is related to ''Skirophorion'', the last of the three months of spring in the

Attic calendar The Attic calendar or Athenian calendar is the lunisolar calendar beginning in midsummer with the lunar month of Hekatombaion, in use in ancient Attica, the ancestral territory of the Athenian polis. It is sometimes called the Greek calendar bec ...

. He is depicted as a bearded man tilting a cauldron, representing the onset of winter. His Roman counterpart is Caurus or Corus. Caurus is also one of the oldest Roman wind-deities, and numbered among the ''

di indigetes In classical Latin, the epithet ''Indiges'', singular in form, is applied to Sol (''Sol Indiges'') and to Jupiter of Lavinium, later identified with Aeneas. One theory holds that it means the "speaker within", and stems from before the recogni ...

'' ('indigenous gods'), a group of abstract and largely minor

numinous Numinous () means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring";Collins English Dictionary - 7th ed. - 2005 also "supernatural" or "appealing to the aesthetic sensibility." The term was given its present sense by the Ger ...

entities. The Roman poet

writes when describing steppe winter weather near the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

:Virgil, Georgics, 3.356. Lips is the Greek deity of the southwest wind, often depicted holding the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

of a ship. His Roman equivalent was Africus, due to the Roman province

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

being to the southwest of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. This name is thought to be derived from the name of a

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

n tribe, the

Afri (singular ) was a Latin name for the inhabitants of Africa, referring in its widest sense to all the lands south of the Mediterranean (Ancient Libya). Latin speakers at first used as an adjective, meaning "of Africa". As a substantive, it deno ...

. Other minor wind deities included: * Argestes "clearing", a wind blowing from about the same direction as Skiron (Caurus), and probably another name for it * Aparctias, sometimes called the north wind instead of Boreas * Thrascias, the north-northwest wind (sometimes called in Latin Circius) * Euronotus, the wind blowing from the direction, as its name suggests, between Euros and Notus, that is, a south-southeast wind (Euroauster to the Romans) *

Iapyx In Greek and Roman mythology, Iapyx (from Greek Ἰάπυξ, ''gen''.: Ἰάπυγος), ''Iapux'' or ''Iapis'' was a favorite of Apollo. The god wanted to confer upon him the gift of prophecy, the lyre, etc.; but Iapyx, wishing to prolong the li ...

, the northwest wind about the same as Caurus. It was this wind, according to

, that carried the fleeing

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

home to Egypt after she was defeated at the

battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

.Hdt. 7.189.3. * Libonotus, the south-southwest wind, known as Austro-Africus to the Romans * Meses, another name for the northwest wind *

Olympias Olympias (; c. 375–316 BC) was a Ancient Greeks, Greek princess of the Molossians, the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip of Macedon, Philip II, the king of Macedonia ...

, apparently identified with Skiron/Argestes * Phoenicias, another name for the southeast wind ('the one blowing from

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

', due to this land lying to the southeast of Greece)

References

External links

*
Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 50 images of winds)

Drawings of the eight winds on the Tower of the Winds at Athens
{{Authority control Characters in Roman mythology Children of Eos Deities in the Iliad Characters in the Odyssey Greek gods Metamorphoses characters Personifications in Greek mythology Roman gods Sky and weather gods Wind gods Helios in mythology Avian humanoids