The Situations and Names of Winds (Ancient Greek:Περὶ θέσεως ἀνέμων;Latin:Ventorum Situs) is a spurious fragment traditionally attributed toAristotle. The brief text lists winds blowing from twelve different directions and their alternative names used in different places.[1] According to the manuscript version of the work,The Situations and Names of Winds is an extract from a larger work entitledOn Signs (De Signis)[2] likely written by apseudo-Aristotle of theperipatetic school.Situations is notable as an ancient text which reproduces the concepts of theAnemoi or "wind gods" andclassical compass winds, both of which have been historical components ofwestern culture.
Situations is the shortest piece traditionally attributed to Aristotle as part of theCorpus Aristotelicum, occupying a single two-column page (973) inBekker's standard reference edition of Aristotle's complete works.
The twelve winds, described in order in the text, are:
In addition to these primary names, the document also gives partial information on other traditional names for the same winds, and geographic associations tied to various places.
Although the document usually provides geographic context as opposed to cardinal directions, it is clear by comparing its scheme to other classical accounts that the listing starts in the north, and proceeds clockwise. In particular, the scheme presented inSituations is very similar to, but distinct from, the one given by Aristotle in his authentic text,Meteorology.[3] A significant difference between the two texts is thatSituations introduces the names Orthonotus and Leuconotus for the two southerly winds not treated inMeteorology. For another treatment of the text, see the "Theophrastus" section in the classical compass winds article, listed below.
The winds, as represented in Aristotle'sMeteorology. Note that most, but not all names, agree with those given inSituations.
Nicolaus Germanus's 1467 manuscript copy ofPtolemy'sworld map. Note the Romanized names of the winds, very different from those stated inSituations, but in the same cultural tradition.
^Barnes, Jonathan (1984).The Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume I. Princeton:Princeton. pp. 588–591.ISBN9780691016504. Book II, Chapter 6. Bekker number 363a-365a.
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