| Aura | |
|---|---|
Goddess of the Breeze | |
 Aura riding a horse byTimotheus,National Archaeological Museum, Athens. | |
| Greek | Αὔρα |
| Abode | Phrygia |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | |
| Consort | Dionysus |
| Children | Iacchus, unnamed son |
InGreek andRoman mythology,Aura (Ancient Greek:Αὔρα,romanized: Aúra,lit. 'breeze'pronounced[ǎu̯raː], or Αὔρηpronounced[ǎu̯rɛː]) is a minor wind goddess, whose name means "breeze".[1] The plural form,Aurae (Ancient Greek:Αὔραι) is sometimes found to describe a group of breezenymphs associated withBoreas, the god of the north wind.
The most detailed account of Aura's myth is recorded by late antiquity writerNonnus, according to whom Aura is the daughter of the TitanLelantos and the mother, byDionysus, ofIacchus, a minor deity connected with theEleusinian Mysteries.
The Greek nounαὔρα means "breeze, fresh air", especially cool breeze.[2] It is cognate with the wordἀήρ, meaning air or morning mist, from an earlierProto-Indo-European root*h₂ewsḗr.[3]
The only author to offer a lineage for Aura isNonnus, writing in the fifth century AD. In his account, Aura is the nymph daughter of theTitanLelantos.[4] Nonnus seems to imply that Aura's mother was the wife of Lelantos, theOceanid nymphPeriboea,[5] although elsewhere, he calls Aura the "daughter ofCybele", the Phrygian mother-goddess.[6]
Quintus Smyrnaeus on the other hand made the breeze nymphs Aurae the daughters ofBoreas, the god of the north wind.[7]
| Greek deities series |
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| Nymphs |
TheAugustan poetOvid, in theArs Amatoria and again in theMetamorphoses, introduces Aura into the tragic story ofCephalus andProcris, perhaps playing on the verbal similarity of Aura andAurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn (equivalent of GreekEos), who had briefly been Cephalus's lover before he returned to his wife.[8]
In theMetamorphoses, Ovid has Cephalus tell how it was his habit, that after finishing a hunt, he would seek out the cooling breeze, and call upon it to soothe his body and refresh him. Cephalus referred to the breeze as his greatest joy.[9] But someone overheard Cephalus' words and misinterpreted them, thinking Aura was surely some nymph Cephalus was having an affair with.[10]
That person reported back to Cephalus' wife Procris, she was stricken with grief and fear over a false alarm (again implying that Procris was afraid Cephalus had returned to Aurora).[11] The next day Cephalus went hunting again, and when he heard the rustle of leaves, he threw hurled his javelin against the animal, only to discover that it was Procris, who had come to spy on her husband, suspicious that he was seeing Aura again.[12] With her dying breath Procris begged him not to replace her with Aura, as Cephalus assured her this was but a misunderstanding.[13][14]
Nonnus' tells the story of the rape of Aura, byDionysus, in the final book of his epic poem theDionysiaca (early 5th century).[15]
Aura was a resident ofPhrygia and companion of the goddessArtemis, who presided over hunters and the woods. Nonnus describes Aura as a tall nymph as fast as the wind, and a "manlike" virgin who knew nothing ofAphrodite. Aura was a huntress, who could run down wild bears and lions, but did not bother with small game.[16]
One day, Aura goes hunting with Artemis. For relief from the midday heat, the hunting party stops for a swim. Aura then teases Artemis, saying that her breasts were better than Artemis's, since hers were small and round like a man's, while Artemis's were large and voluptuous like a woman's, and so belied Artemis' supposed "unviolated maidenhood".[17] Deeply offended, the angry Artemis goes toNemesis, the goddess of divine retribution, who arranges for Aura to be punished by losing her virginity.[18] Dionysus is then made mad with desire for Aura, by an arrow from the bow of Eros on Nemesis's orders. But knowing that he will never be able to seduce the obdurately virginal Aura, Dionysus drugs Aura with wine, ties her up, and rapes her while she is unconscious and unmoving.[19]
When Aura awakes, discovering she is no longer a virgin, but not knowing who is responsible, enraged, she "made empty the huts of the mountainranging herdsmen and drenched the hills with blood".[20] After a painful labor, Aura gives birth to twin boys.[21] She gives them to a lioness to eat, but it refuses to do so.[22] So Aura seizes one of the boys, flings it high into the air, and after it falls back to hit the ground, she eats it. However, Artemis spirits the other child safely away.[23] Aura then drowns herself in the riverSangarios, where Zeus turned her into a spring:[24]
her breasts became the spouts of falling water, the stream was her body, the flowers her hair, her bow the horn of the horned River in bull-shape, the bowstring changed into a rush and the whistling arrows into vocal reeds, the quiver passed through to the muddy bed of the river and, changed to a hollow channel, poured its sounding waters.[25]
According to Nonnus, Aura's surviving child by Dionysus, isIacchus,[26] a minor deity connected with theEleusinian Mysteries, although other accounts have Iacchus, when not identified with Dionysus himself, the son ofDemeter orPersephone.
The only other account of Aura's rape is recounted in the twelfth-century lexiconEtymologicum Magnum, according to which Aura was a maiden fromPontus who hunted with Artemis. Dionysus saw her and raped her, after which Artemis threatened to kick her out of her company. In fear, Aura fled to the town ofCyzicus inPhrygia, where she gave birth to twins (whose gender, names and identities are not revealed). Thus the mountain nearby got its name, 'Dindymon' ("twin"), after Aura's children.[27]
Aurae was the title of a now lost play by the Athenian comic poet Metagenes, who was contemporary withAristophanes,Phrynichus, andPlato.[28]
Extant images of Aura from antiquity are rare.[29] There are only two which can be identified as Aura by inscription.[30] The oldest is a fifth-century BCskyphos fromTaranto, now in theNicholson Museum,University of Sydney (53.30), which shows a figure labeled "Aura", seated on a rock by the sea, withvelificatio, a billowing garment that forms an arch overhead.[31] The other is found on avolute-krater funerary vase (c. 370–350 BC), now in theBritish Museum (F277). Depicted on its neck is apolos-crowned head with curls, and the inscription "Aura" above thepolos crown.[32]
Aura is possibly thevelificans depicted on Side 1 of the second pillar ofLas Incantadas, a Roman pillared portico bearing mythological reliefs from the agora ofThessalonica, which was demolished by Frenchman Emmanuel Miller and its sculptures transferred to the Louvre.[33] She is depicted in a 'slow walking' pose, slightly bending and lifting her right leg off the ground, while placing all of her weight on her left leg (contrapposto). She wears a thin wet-looking chiton, and her hair falls softly to her shoulders. Aura's face is entirely gone, as is her left and most of her right forearm. That figure has also been identified as a Bacchante, or evenHelen of Troy. On the other side of Aura's pillar stands Dionysus.[34]
Pliny describes two statues of Aurae withvelificantes sua veste, "spreading their cloaks like sails", at thePorticus Octaviae in Rome.[35] Influenced by Pliny's description, a pair ofvelificantes (figures framed by avelificatio) that appear on theAra Pacis Augustae ("Altar of Augustan Peace") have often been identified as Aurae, although this identification has been criticized, and many other identifications have been proposed.[36]
Aurae can resembleNereids, from whom they are distinguishable mainly by the absence of marine imagery.[37] The female figures with wind-blown drapery, which adorned theNereid Monument atXanthos, though usually identified asNereids, have sometimes been identified as Aurae.[38]
Aura is sometimes identified as the female figure carried byZephyrus inSandro Botticelli's paintingThe Birth of Venus.[39]
Media related toAura at Wikimedia Commons
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