Aurora stems from Proto-Italic*ausōs, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European*haéusōs, the "dawn" conceived as divine entity. It has cognates in the goddessesĒṓs,Uṣas,Aušrinė,Auseklis andĒastre.[1][2]
InRoman mythology, Aurora renews herself every morning and flies across the sky, announcing the arrival of the Sun. Her parentage was flexible. The poetOvid named her as the daughter of theTitanHyperion,[3] but also referred to her asPallantis, signifying she was the daughter ofPallas.[4] She has two siblings, a brother—Sol, the Sun— and a sister—Luna, the Moon. Roman writers rarely imitated Hesiod and later Greek poets by naming Aurora as the mother of theAnemoi (the Winds), who were the offspring ofAstraeus, the father of the stars.
Most commonly, Aurora appears in erotic poetry with one of her mortal lovers. A myth taken from the Greek by Roman poets tells that one of her lovers was the prince ofTroy,Tithonus. Tithonus was a mortal, and would therefore age and die. Wanting to be with her lover for all eternity, Aurora askedJupiter to grantimmortality to Tithonus. Jupiter granted her wish, but she failed to ask for eternal youth to accompany his immortality, and he continued to age, eventually becoming forever old. Aurora turned him into acicada.
Aurora has been referenced and depicted frequently in literature, poetry, theater, and music.
InShakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet, Lord Montague describes the Sun drawing the curtains of night away from Aurora's bed.[7]
Aurora andFlora, the goddess of spring, are depicted interacting withNeptune in the traditionalIrish folk song "Lord Courtown."
The 18th century African-American poetPhillis Wheatley referenced the relationship between Aurora and Tithonus in "On Imagination."[8]
In Chapter 8 ofCharlotte Brontë'sVillette, when Madame Beck fires her old Governess first thing in the morning, Lucy Snowe compares her to Aurora.[9]
Alfred, Lord Tennyson described Aurora as glimmering, with sweet, bright eyes and red cheeks in his poem "Tithonus."[10][11]
The 20th-century Polish poetZbigniew Herbert wrote about Aurora's grandchildren in "Kwestia Smaku." In the poem they are ugly, but will eventually grow to be beautiful.[12]
The first and strongest of the 50 Spacer worlds inThe Caves of Steel and subsequent novels byIsaac Asimov is named after the goddess Aurora. Its capital city is Eos.
Icelandic singer-songwriterBjörk describes the goddess in the song "Aurora" on herVespertine album.
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