Hello friends, welcome back to Scholar Minor!
This week we'll be once again returning to the world of Greek mythology.
We've talked before on this podcast about aetiological myths - myths used by ancient cultures to explain natural phenomena. The Greeks, of course, had many of these and associated particular deities with specific elements of the natural world.
We'll be taking a look at the Greeks this week, but if you'd like to hear about aetiological myths in more detail, I recommend checking out episode 4 “The Wild Huntsmen” for some more context and aetiological myths about storms from the more Northern regions of Europe.
Believe it or not, it’s pretty darn cold and windy here in California this week. If it’s similar where you are, I hope you are staying warm, dry, and healthy - and I hope you enjoy.
A brief content warning before we start this week: If you are not familiar with Greek mythology, please be warned that there are references to sexual assault in many of the myths. I’ll not be detailing any of these interactions, but please be aware that they may be referenced in the context of the mythology.
“He ordered mists and clouds into position,
And thunder, to make test of our resolve,
And winds creating thunderbolts and lightning.
Nor did that world-creating god permit
The winds to roam ungoverned through the air;
For even now, with each of them in charge
Of his own kingdom, their blasts controlled,
They scarcely can be kept from shattering
The world, such is the discord between brothers.”
One of the sources I’ll be using this week is an old favorite of mine: Charles Martin’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. If you don’t have it already, you should. Our introductory excerpt comes from Book 1 of the Metamorphoses which describes, among other things, the Creation of the universe - shaping Chaos into the order of the natural world.
The Metamorphoses definitely deserves its own episode one of these days. The imagery is wonderful, and it’s difficult to pick a single passage when they are all awesome - but our purposes today are the weather, and Ovid wasn’t kidding about the winds causing trouble - as we’ll come to find out.
According to Greek mythology, the Gods of the wind were collectively called the Anemoi, and were the children of Aeolus - the keeper of the winds - and Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Each of the Anemoi brothers corresponded to one of the cardinal directions: Boreas the North, Zephyrus the West, Notus the South, and Eurus the East. The Anemoi were also each associated with a season of the year. They are usually depicted in humanoid shapes, though they sometimes appear in the form of horses.
If you’ve listened to Scholar Minor before, Zephyrus - god of the West wind and of the springtime - may sound familiar. Some versions of the Apollo and Hyacinthus myth, which we discussed in our Greek Myths, Part 1: Love episode 6, hold Zephyrus responsible for the death of Apollo’s lover Hyacinthus.
While Zephyrus is usually associated with nice things - the soft, warm winds of spring and the blooming of flowers - he is an ancient Greek deity, and therefore probably capable of unkind interference. In the aforementioned myth, some versions tell us that it was Zephryus’ wind that altered the course of Apollo’s diskus - motivated by jealousy. Despite this reputational hiccup, Thomas Bulfinch describes Zephyrus as the “gentlest of all the sylvan deities.”
His counterpart in the North has a less sunshine-y demeanor: Boreas, of the Northern winds and the winter. He was believed to inhabit the mountains of Thrake, sometimes appearing as a wild-looking man with a frosty beard and giant purple wings. Greek geographer Pausanias asserted that Boreas he had snakes for feet.
While the Anemoi share their association with horses, Boreas in particular is described as taking the form of a stallion and impregnating mares. The colts born from these unions were believed to possess otherworldly speed and beauty. He is believed to have fathered at least 12 horses.
Boreas was known for having a violent temper. His name is derived from the Greek borao, “to devour”. He became infatuated with an Athenian princess, Orithyia, who did not return his affection. He kidnapped and raped her, and she bore four children, including Chione, the deity of snow - and two sons who would later join the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece. Orithyia herself would become the goddess of cold mountain winds.
Boreas’ name itself means “Northern Wind”, and makes up part of the name Aurora Borealis. Aurora was the Roman name for the goddess of the dawn - known to the Greeks as Eos, and Boreas' mother. This name for the northern lights, which are caused by solar wind from the sun interacting with the Earth's magnetic fields, was coined by Italian astronomer Gelileo in 1619.
Eurus is the name of the East wind, associated with autumn and with strong winds at sea. He lived near the palace of the sun god, Helios - the sun, of course, rising in the East. Euros is generally depicted as a warm wind. 5th century Greek poet Nonnus refers to "the wing of the red fiery Euros" in his Dionysiaca, and many authors - including Ovid - connect Euros directly with sun and the red colors of morning.
While Eurus was generally regarded as the warm winds of dawn, the Anemoi Notus was much more extreme - representing hot winds from the South and the summer. We've discussed before the belief of the ancient Greeks that the hottest days of summer were bad news. They corresponded with the dog star, Sirius, rising just before the sun - and were believed to bring misfortune and catastrophe.
Notus caused wet, warm summer storms. In is work Georgics, as translated by H. Rushton Fairclough, Roman poet Pablius Vergilius Maro - aka Virgil - recounts:
"When, hidden in cloud, he [the sun] has chequered with spots his early dawn, and is shrunk back in the centre of his disc, beware of showers; for from the deep Notus is sweeping, foe to tree and crop and herd."
For seafarers in ancient Greece, their relationship with the Anemoi was a tenuous one. On the one hand, the presence of the wind made ocean travel possible in the first place. But despite their necessity, sometimes the brothers would get together and make the lives of Greek sailors very difficult indeed. As translated by J.H. Mozley, first century Roman poet Gaius Valerius Flaccus describes in his work the Argonautica:
"Within all the Winds began to roar and clamour for the open sea. Then did Hippotades drive against the mighty door with a whirling blast. Joyfully from the prison burst the Thracian horses, Zephyros (the West Wind) and Notus (the South Wind) of the night-dark pinions with all the sons of the Storms, and Eurus (the East Wind) his hair disheveled with the blasts, and tawny with too much sand;
they drew the tempest on, and in thunderous advance together drive the curling waves to shore, and stir not the trident's realms alone, for at the same time the fiery sky falls with a mighty peal, and night brings all things beneath a pitchy sky. The oars are dashed from the rowers' hands; the ship's head is turned aslant, and on her she receives the sounding shocks; a sudden whirlwind tears away the sails that flap over the tottering mast."
Whenever the Anemoi are brought up, there is a good chance they are the cause of some bizarre weather conditions. And frequently this is because they are working against one another - not together. Particularly dangerous were arguments between Notus of the South and Boreas of the North. When they clashed, they did so head on.
But of course, we can’t forget about the harpies. These creatures are gusts of wind personified, often acting under the command of Zeus - King of the Gods and ruler of thunder and lightning. The Harpies of ancient Greek myth were initially depicted as beautiful women with bird-like features, usually their wings and legs.
Over time, the Harpies lost their reputation for beauty and became monstrous. In the Aeneid, Virgil describes the Harpyiai thusly: "Bird-bodied, girl-faced things they are; abominable their droppings, their hands are talons, their faces haggard with hunger insatiable."
Harpies appear to have had some association with the Underworld. Their images appear on tombs, and there are some references to them guarding Hades alongside Cerberus. Mysterious disappearances of the living were sometimes blamed on the interference Harpies - the whirlwinds.
Thanks for joining me for another episode this week, and happy one year anniversary to Scholar Minor. I am so grateful that you have all been listening. Please consider subscribing if you haven’t already, and I look forward to learning with you again soon.
Be safe, stay dry, and until next time.