Galaxy/The codex of Eurus

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eurus (Ancient Greek: Εὖρος, romanized: Euros, lit. 'east wind') is the god and personification of the east wind, sometimes specified as the southeast. He belongs to the Anemoi, the wind gods, and appears in epic and later poetry as the wind of the dawn quarter.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Eurus" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Overview

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, 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. He is one of the four principal wind gods, the Anemoi, alongside his brothers Boreas (north wind), Zephyrus (west wind) and Notus (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 god Vulturnus.

II.Etymology

The ancient Greek noun εὖρος (eûros) refers to the wind that blows from the east. 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).

III.Attributes and family

Eurus is traditionally the god of the east or south-east wind. He has been both described as rain-bringing and a dry type of wind.

Eurus, unlike the three other principal wind gods, is often skipped by ancient authors. He is the only one not to be mentioned by Hesiod at all, who makes the three beneficial winds the children of Eos (the dawn goddess) and her husband Astraeus, and says that all the other, non-beneficial for humanity winds are the sons of Typhon. Instead of Eurus, Hesiod only speaks of "Argestes" for the fourth, which could also refer to Apeliotes occasionally (the god of the southeast wind). Similarly, he is the only one among the four who does not have an Orphic Hymn sang in his honour.

It is thus Nonnus, a fifth-century AD author from Panopolis who made Eurus one of the children of Eos and Astraeus in his Dionysiaca.

IV.Mythology

In his few appearances in mythology, Eurus is usually paired with Notus, the south wind, like Zephyrus is paired with Boreas. Like Notus 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.

V.Odyssey

According to the Odyssey the winds seem to dwell on the island of Aeolia, as Zeus has made Aeolus the keeper of the winds. Aeolus receives Odysseus and his crew warmly, and keeps them as guests for a month. 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.

Some time later, he and Notus strand Odysseus on Thrinacia, the island of the sun-god Helios, for an entire month, following their departure from the island of Circe. After Odysseus left Calypso, the sea-god Poseidon in anger let loose all four of them, Eurus included, to cause a storm and raise great waves in order to drown him.

VI.Homonyms

This atlas entry (eurus) is the east-wind god of the Anemoi. Other wind personifications (Boreas, Notus, Zephyrus) are separate nodes.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameEuros (Εὖρος)
Roman nameVulturnus
Typegod
Domainsthe east wind · the dawn quarter · the eastern realms
ParentageEos · Astraeus
Symbolseast wind · dawn quarter
EtymologyGreek εὖρος (eûros), the wind blowing from the east; ultimate etymology uncertain.
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