In ancientGreek mythology andreligion,Eurus (Ancient Greek:Εὖρος,romanized: Euros,lit. 'east wind') is the god and personification of the east wind, although sometimes he is also said to be southeast specifically.[1] He is one of the four principal wind gods, theAnemoi, alongside his brothersBoreas (north wind),Zephyrus (west wind) andNotus (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 godVulturnus.
The ancient Greek nounεὖρος (eûros) refers to the wind that blows from the east.[2] Its ultimate etymology is not clear, although it has been variously connected to the Greek words for the dawn (Ancient Greek:ἠώς,ēṓs) and aura (Ancient Greek:αὔρα,aúra).[2]
Eurus is traditionally the god of the east or south-east wind.[1][3] He has been both described as rain-bringing and a dry type of wind.[4]
Eurus, unlike the three other principal wind gods, is often skipped by ancient authors. He is the only one not to be mentioned byHesiod at all, who makes the three beneficial winds the children ofEos (the dawn goddess) and her husbandAstraeus, and says that all the other, non-beneficial for humanity winds are the sons ofTyphon.[1][5] Instead of Eurus, Hesiod only speaks of "Argestes" for the fourth, which could also refer toApeliotes occasionally (the god of the southeast wind).[6] Similarly, he is the only one among the four who does not have anOrphic Hymn sang in his honour.
It is thusNonnus, a fifth-century AD author fromPanopolis who made Eurus one of the children of Eos and Astraeus in hisDionysiaca.[7]
In his few appearances in mythology, Eurus is usually paired with Notus, the south wind, like Zephyrus is paired with Boreas.[3] Like Notus[8] and unlike Zephyrus/Boreas, Eurus has little to no mythology of his own, and only appears as part of a whole when the Anemoi feature in some tale.
According to theOdyssey the winds seem to dwell on the island ofAeolia, asZeus has madeAeolus the keeper of the winds.[9] Aeolus receivesOdysseus and his crew warmly, and keeps them as guests for a month.[10] 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.[9]
Some time later, he and Notus strand Odysseus onThrinacia, the island of the sun-godHelios, for an entire month, following their departure from the island ofCirce.[11] After Odysseus leftCalypso, the sea-godPoseidon in anger let loose all four of them, Eurus included, to cause a storm and raise great waves in order to drown him.[12]
In theDionysiaca, he and his confirmed brothers live with their father Astraeus; Eurus serves nectar in cups whenDemeter pays the family a visit.[7]
In thePergamon Altar, which depicts the battle of the gods against theGiants, Eurus and the other three wind gods are shown in the shape of horses who pull Hera's chariot;[13][14] traces of their equine form are also found inQuintus Smyrnaeus's works, where they pull Zeus's chariot instead.[15]
Early attestation of Eurus and wind-related worship is found in theMycenaean Greek wordsa-ne-mo-i-je-re-ja (Linear B:𐀀𐀚𐀗𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊) anda-ne-mo i-je-re-ja (Linear B:𐀀𐀚𐀗𐄀𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊), that is, "priestess of the winds", found on theKN Fp 1 and KN Fp 13 tablets.[16][17] In post-Greek Dark Ages times, traces of Eurus's worship as part of the Four Winds is found inTitane inCorinthia where a sanctuary to the Winds stood,[18]Sparta where Eurus was described as the 'saviour of Sparta,'[4]Coronea where they had an altar,[19] andAttica.
For the Romans, Eurus was identified with the godVulturnus ("he from Vultur", a mountain inApulia, perhaps related to the world "vulture"), closely associated with dry and warm weather.[4] He was also called Africanus (meaning "he fromAfrica") occasionally, due to the dry type of east wind the ancients knew.[20]
^Kunze, Max (1988).Der grosse Marmoraltar von Pergamon [The Large Marble Altar of Pergamon] (in German). Berlin: Staatliche Museem zu Berlin. pp. 23–24.
^Although usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as inHesiod,Theogony371–374, in theHomeric Hymn to Hermes (4),99–100, Selene is instead made the daughter of Pallas the son of Megamedes.
^Astraea is not mentioned by Hesiod, instead she is given as a daughter of Eos and Astraeus inHyginusAstronomica2.25.1.
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.
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.
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