In ancient 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 his brothers Boreas (north wind), Zephyrus (west wind) and Notus (south wind).

Eurus is featured rarely in ancient literature and art, mostly appearing together with his three brothers as part of a whole if at all, and virtually has no individual mythology of his own. Often he is excluded from the group entirely, leaving Boreas, Zephyrus and Notus to represent the Anemoi. His Roman equivalent is the god Vulturnus.

Etymology

The ancient Greek noun (eûros) refers to the wind that blows from the east. Its ultimate etymology is not clear, although it has been variously connected to the Greek words for the dawn (, ēṓs) and aura (, aúra).

Attributes and family

Eurus is traditionally the god of the east or south-east wind. He has been both described as rain-bringing and a dry type of wind.

Eurus, unlike the three other principal wind gods, is often skipped by ancient authors. He is the only one not to be mentioned by Hesiod at all, who makes the three beneficial winds the children of Eos (the dawn goddess) and her husband Astraeus, and says that all the other, non-beneficial for humanity winds are the sons of Typhon. Instead of Eurus, Hesiod only speaks of "Argestes" for the fourth, which could also refer to Apeliotes occasionally (the god of the southeast wind). Similarly, he is the only one among the four who does not have an Orphic Hymn sang in his honour.

It is thus Nonnus, a fifth-century AD author from Panopolis who made Eurus one of the children of Eos and Astraeus in his Dionysiaca. As they part, Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag containing all the winds, except for the gentle Zephyrus who blows them back home. Although warned not to open the bag under any circumstances, Odysseus's crewmates however foolishly open the bag, thinking it to contain some treasure, and set free Eurus along with all the other winds as well, who then blow the ships back to Aeolia, whereupon Aeolus refused to help them a second time.

Some time later, he and Notus strand Odysseus on Thrinacia, the island of the sun-god Helios, for an entire month, following their departure from the island of Circe. After Odysseus left Calypso, the sea-god Poseidon in anger let loose all four of them, Eurus included, to cause a storm and raise great waves in order to drown him.

Other appearances

thumb|The horses on the [[Pergamon Altar, Pergamon Museum in Berlin.]]

In the Dionysiaca, he and his confirmed brothers live with their father Astraeus; Eurus serves nectar in cups when Demeter pays the family a visit.

In the Pergamon Altar, which depicts the battle of the gods against the Giants, Eurus and the other three wind gods are shown in the shape of horses who pull Hera's chariot; traces of their equine form are also found in Quintus Smyrnaeus's works, where they pull Zeus's chariot instead.

Cult

Early attestation of Eurus and wind-related worship is found in the Mycenaean Greek words (Linear B: ) and (Linear B: ), that is, "priestess of the winds", found on the KN Fp 1 and KN Fp 13 tablets. In post-Greek Dark Ages times, traces of Eurus's worship as part of the Four Winds is found in Titane in Corinthia where a sanctuary to the Winds stood, Sparta where Eurus was described as the 'saviour of Sparta,' and Attica.

Vulturnus

For the Romans, Eurus was identified with the god Vulturnus ("he from Vultur", a mountain in Apulia, perhaps related to the world "vulture"), closely associated with dry and warm weather.

Genealogy

See also

  • Bacab
  • Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór
  • Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri
  • Vayu
  • List of wind deities

References

Bibliography

  • in two volumes: (Vol. 1) ; (Vol. 2) .
  • Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PhD in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Homer; The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Lactantius Placidus, Lactantii Placidi qui dicitur Commentarios in Statii Thebaida it Commentarium in Achilleida recensuit, translated by Richard Jahnke, 1898, B. G. Tevbneri, Lipsiae.
  • Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
  • Nonnus, Dionysiaca; translated by Rouse, W H D, III Books XXXVI-XLVIII. Loeb Classical Library No. 346, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. Internet Archive.
  • Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Quintus Smyrnaeus, Quintus Smyrnaeus: The Fall of Troy, translated by A.S. Way, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1913. Internet Archive.
  • EURUS from the Theoi Project