Boreas

Boreas (Ancient Greek: Βορέας, Boreus - “North Wind”) is the Greek god of winter, loneliness, solitude, absence, lack, sadness, depression, calmness, serenity, the north wind, and storms in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is known for bringing the cold season of winter into the world. His most famous story is about him abducting Oreithyia and making her his wife. He is also known for helping the Athenians against the Persians by sinking 400 Persian ships with his strong icy breath.

Boreas
God of the North Wind, Storms, Winter, Loneliness, Solitude, Absence, Lack, Sadness, Depression, Calmness and Serenity
Statue of Boreas abducting Oreithyia in the Louvre, France
Abode	Sky
Symbol	Conch shell, billowing cloak, wings
Personal information
Consort	Oreithyia
Children	Calaes, Zetes,
Parents	Astraeus and Eos
Siblings	Eurus, Notus, Zephyrus
Roman equivalent	Aquillo

Cult of Boreas

I. ATHENS Chief City of Attica (Attika) (Southern Greece) Herodotus, Histories 7. 189 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) : "The story is told that because of an oracle the Athenians invoked Boreas, the north wind, to help them, since another oracle told them to summon their son-in-law as an ally. According to the Hellenic story, Boreas had an Attic wife, Orithyia, the daughter of Erekhtheus (Erechtheus), ancient king of Athens. Because of this connection, so the tale goes, the Athenians considered Boreas to be their son-in-law. They were stationed off Khalkis (Chalcis) in Euboia (Euboea), and when they saw the storm rising, they then, if they had not already, sacrificed to and called upon Boreas and Orithyia to help them by destroying the barbarian fleet, just as before at Athos. I cannot say whether this was the cause of Boreas falling upon the barbarians as they lay at anchor, but the Athenians say that he had come to their aid before and that he was the agent this time. When they went home, they founded a sacred precinct of Boreas beside the Ilissos (Ilissus) river. There was no counting how many grain-ships and other vessels were destroyed. The generals of the fleet were afraid that the Thessalians might attack them now that they had been defeated, so they built a high palisade out of the wreckage. The storm lasted three days. Finally the [Persian] Magi made offerings and cast spells upon the Wind [Boreas], sacrificing also to Thetis and the Nereides. In this way they made the Wind stop on the fourth day--or perhaps it died down on its own."

Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4. 21 (trans. Conybeare) (Greek biography C1st to C2nd A.D.) : "Surely you [the Athenians] might have some respect for the Winds that were your allies and once blew mightily to protect you . . . Boreas who was your patron, and who of all the winds is the most masculine . . . became the lover of Oreithyia."

Suidas s.v. Aphetai (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) : "Aphetai (Aphetae) : A place in Athens where the expedition of Xerxes had its first setback because of the unsuitability of the harbors. For this reason they consider Boreas to be an ally of the Athenians. The god [Apollon of Delphoi] had prophesied that they should sacrifice to their kinsman wind; he is called kinsman because of Oreithyia."

II. MEGALOPOLIS Chief City of Arcadia (Southern Greece) Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 36. 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "On the right of the road [outside Megalopolis, Arkadia (Arcadia)] there has been made a precinct to Boreas, and the Megalopolitans offer sacrifices every year, holding none of the gods in greater honour than Boreas, because he proved their saviour from the Lakedaimonians (Lacedaemonians) under Agis."

III. THURII (THOURIOI) Town in Lucania (Southern Italy) Aelian, Historical Miscellany 12. 61 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) : "Dionysios (Dionysius) [tyrant of Syrakousa (Syracuse)] attacked Thourioi (Thurii) with his fleet, bringing three hundred ships manned with hoplites. A headwind from the north damaged the vessels and destroyed his armada. As a result Thourioi (Thurii) offered sacrifice to Boreas (the North Wind), decreed rights of citizenship to the wind (anemos), allocated to it a house and plot of land, and established an annual festival. So the Athenians were not alone in claiming kinship with him; the Thourians (Thurians) also declared him to be their benefactor. Pausanias [8.36.6] says the men of Megalopolis did the same."

Boreas father of horses

Homer, Iliad 20. 219 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "Erikhthonios (Erichthonius) [King of Troy], who became the richest of mortal men, and in his possession were three thousand horses who pastured along the low grasslands, mares in their price with their young colts; and with these Boreas fell in love as they pastured there, and took on upon him the likeness of a dark-maned stallion, and coupled with them, and the mares conceiving of him bore to him twelve young horses. Those, when they would play along the grain-giving tilled land would pass along the tassels of corn and not break the divine yield, but again, when they played across the sea's wide ridges they would run the edge of the wave where it breaks on the grey salt water."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 239 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) : "[The horses of Ares :] Aithon (Aethon, Red-fire) and Phlogios (Phlogius, Flame), Konabos (Conabus, Tumult) and Phobos (Phobus, Panic-fear), his [Ares] car-steeds, bare him down into the fight, the coursers which to roaring Boreas grim-eyed Erinnys bare."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 1. 166 ff : "She [the Amazon Penthesilea] in pride of triumph on she rode throned on a goodly steed and fleet, the gift of Oreithyia, wild Boreas' (North-wind's) bride, given to her guest the warrior-maid, what time she came to Thrake (Thrace), a steed whose flying feet could match the Harpyiai's (Harpies') wings." [N.B. The horse was presumably sired by Thrakian Boreas on the Harpyia (Harpy).]

Aelian, On Animals 4. 6 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) : "Horse-keepers frequently testify to mares being impregnated by the Wind, and to their galloping against Notos (Notus, the South Wind) or Borras (Boreas, the North). And the same poet [Homer] knew this when he said ‘Of them was Boreas enamoured as they pastured.’ Aristotle too, borrowing (as I think) from him, said that they rush away in frenzy straight in the face of the aforesaid Autai (Winds) [Anemoi]."

Virgil, Georgics 3. 267 ff (trans. Fairclough) (Roman bucolic C1st B.C.) : "But surely the madness of mares surpasses all. Venus [Aphrodite] herself inspired their frenzy, when the four Potnian steeds tore with their jaws the limbs of Glaucus. Love leads them over Gargarus and over the roaring Ascanius; they scale mountains, they swim rivers. And, soon as the flame has stolen into their craving marrow (chiefly in spring, for in spring the heart returns to their breasts), they all, with faced turned to Zephyrus (the West Wind), stand on a high cliff, and drink the gentle breezes. Then oft, without any wedlock, pregnant with the wind (a wondrous tale!) they flee over rocks and crags and lowly dales, not towards your rising, Eurus (the East Wind), nor the Sun's, but to Boreas (the North), and Auster (the North-West), or thither whence rises blackest Notus (the South), saddening the sky with chilly rain."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 37. 155 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "First Erekhtheus (Erechtheus) [King of Athens] brought his horse Xanthos (Xanthus, Bayard) under the yoke, and fastened in his mare Podarkes (Podarces, Swiftfoot); both sired by North-Wind Boreas in winged coupling when he dragged a Sithonian Harpyia Aellopos (Harpy Aellopus) to himself, and Wind gave them as loveprice to his godfather Erekhtheus when he stole Attic Oreithyia for his bride

Boreas and the land of the Hyperboreans

Hyperborea was a mythical land which lay "Beyond the North-Wind." It was a realm of eternal spring untouched by the wintry breath of Boreas. Pindar, Olympian Ode 3. 31 ff (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) : "And in that search he saw, too, the famed land [Hyperborea] that lay behind cold Boreas of bleak and frozen breath."Aeschylus, Fragment 109 Prometheus Unbound (from Galen, Commentary on Hippocrates' Epidemics 6. 17. 1) (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) : "[Prometheus directs Herakles (Heracles) to the far west via Hyperborea in his quest for the golden apples of the Hesperides :] Follow this straight road; and, first of all, thou shalt come to the Boreades (North-Winds), where do thou beware the roaring hurricane, lest unawares it twist thee up and snatch thee away in wintry whirlwind." Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 292 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) : "The first to bring thee [Apollon's sanctuary on Delos] these offerings from the fair-haired Arimaspoi (Arimaspians) were Oupis (Opis) and Loxo and happy Hekaerge (Hecaerge), daughters of Boreas, and those who then were the best of the young men. And they returned not home again, but a happy fate was theirs, and they shall never be without glorious."Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 7. 8 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "The land of the Hyperboreans, men living beyond the home of Boreas (the North Wind)."Aelian, On Animals 11. 1 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) : "The race of the Hyperboreoi (Hyperboreans, People Beyond the North) and the honours there paid to Apollon are sung of by poets . . . This god has as [Hyperborean] priests the sons of Boreas (North Wind) and Khione (Chione, Snow), three in number, brothers by birth, and six cubits in height [approximately ten metres]." Pliny the Elder, Natural History 4. 88 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) : "Last of all in the rear of the Maeotae [a Skythian (Scythian) tribe] are the Arimasi (Arimaspians). Then come the Ripaean Mountains [the Carpathians?] and the region called Peterophorus, because of the feather-like snow continually falling there; it is a part of the world that lies under the condemnation of nature and is plunged in dense darkness, and occupied only by the work of frost and the chilly lurking-places of Aquilo (the North Wind) [Boreas]. Behind these mountains and beyond Aquilo [Boreas] there dwells--if we can believe it--a happy race of people called the Hyperboreans." Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7. 10 : "A tribe is reported next to these [i.e. the Skythians (Scythians)], towards the North, not far from the actual quarter where Aquilo (the North Wind) [Boreas] rises and the cave that bears its name, the place called the Earth's Door-Bolt (Ges Clithron)--the Arimaspi (Arimaspians)."Seneca, Phaedra 935 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : "Beyond the reach of winter [the mythical northern realm of Hyperborea] and his hoar snows, thou leave behind thee the threatening rage of cold Boreas (the North Wind

Boreas’s rescue Leto from Python

Apollon, Leto and Boreas were the patron gods of the mythical Hyperboreans. In the story of the Apollon's birth, Boreas rescues the pregnant Leto from the monster Python.

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 53 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "Latona [Leto] was borne there [to the island of Ortygia] at Jove's [Zeus'] command by the wind Aquilo [Boreas], at the time when the Python was pursuing her, and there, clinging to an olive, she gave birth to Apollo and Diana [Artemis]. This island later was called Delos."

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 140 : "When Python knew that Latona [Leto] was pregnant by Jove [Zeus], he followed her to kill her. But by order of Jove the wind Aquilo [Boreas] carried Latona away, and bore her to Neptunus [Poseidon]. He protected her, but in order not to make voice Juno's [Hera's] decree, he took her to the island Ortygia, and covered the island with waves

The North Wind

Homer, Iliad 23. 194 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "The pure of the dead Patroklos (Patroclus) would not light. Then swift-footed brilliant Akhilleus (Achilles) thought of one more thing that he must do. He stood apart from the pyre and made his prayer to the two winds Boreas and Zephryos (Zephyrus), north wind and west, and promised them splendid offerings, and much outpouring from a golden goblet entreated them to come, so that the bodies might with best speed burn in the fire and the timber burst into flame. And Iris, hearing his prayer, went swiftly as messenger to the Winds for him. Now the Winds assembled within the house of storm-blowing Zephyros were taking part in a feast, and Iris paused in her running and stood on the stone doorsill; but they, when their eyes saw her, sprang to their feet, and each one asked her to sit beside them. But she refused to be seated and spoke the word to them: ‘I must not sit down. I am going back to the running waters of Okeanos (Oceanus) and the Aithiopians' (Ethiopians') land, where they are making grand sacrifice to the immortals; there I, too, shall partake of the sacraments. But Akhilleus' prayer is that Boreas and blustering Zephyros may come to him, and he promises them splendid offerings, so that you may set ablaze the funeral pyre, whereon lies Patroklos, with all Akhaians (Achaeans) mourning about him.’ She spoke so, and went away, and they with immortal clamour rose up, and swept the clouds in confusion before them. They came with a sudden blast upon the sea, and the waves rose under the whistling wind. They came to the generous Troad and hit the pure, and a huge inhuman blaze rose, roaring. Nightlong they piled the flames on the funeral pyre together and blew with a screaming blast . . . At that time when Eosphoros (the Dawn-Star) passes across earth, harbinger of light, and after him Dawn of the saffron mantle is scattered across the sea, the fire died down and the flames were over. The Winds took their way back toward home again, crossing the Thrakian (Thracian) water, and it boiled with a moaning swell as they crossed it."

Homer, Iliad 9. 4 ff : "As two winds rise to shake the sea where the fish swarm, Boreas and Zephyros (Zephyrus), north wind and west, that blow from Thraceward, suddenly descending, and the darkened water is gathered to crests, and far across the salt water scatters the seaweed."

Homer, Odyssey 5. 291 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "[Poseidon] massed the clouds, clutched his trident and churned the ocean up; he roused all the blasts of all the Winds and swathed earth and sea alike in clouds; down from the sky rushed the dark. Euros (the East Wind) and Notos (the South Wind) clashed together, the stormy Zephyros (the West Wind) and the sky-born billow-driving Boreas (the North Wind)."

Hesiod, Works and Days 504 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) : "Avoid the month Lenaeon [late January, early February], wretched days, all of them fit to skin an ox, and the frosts which are cruel when Boreas (the North Wind) blows over the earth. He blows across horse-breeding Thrake (Thrace) upon the wide sea and stirs it up, while earth and the forest howl. On many a high-leafed oak and thick pine he falls and brings them to the bounteous earth in mountain glens: then all the immense wood roars and the beasts shudder and put their tails between their legs, even those whose hide is covered with fur; for with his bitter blast he blows even through them although they are shaggy-breasted. He goes even through an ox's hide; it does not stop him. Also he blows through the goat's fine hair. But through the fleeces of sheep, because their wool is abundant, the keen wind Boreas pierces not at all; but it makes the old man curved as a wheel ... the dawn is chill when Boreas has once made his onslaught, and at dawn a fruitful mist is spread over the earth from starry heaven upon the fields of blessed men: it is drawn from the ever flowing rivers and is raised high above the earth by windstorm, and sometimes it turns to rain towards evening, and sometimes to wind when Thrakian Boreas huddles the thick clouds. Finish your work and return home ahead of him, and do not let the dark cloud from heaven wrap round you and make your body clammy and soak your clothes. Avoid it; for this is the hardest month, wintry, hard for sheep and hard for men."

Hesiod, Catalogues of Women and Eoiae Fragment 68 (from Berlin Papyri 10560) : "From stately trees the fair leaves fell in abundance fluttering down to the ground, and the fruit fell to the ground because Boreas (the North Wind) blew very fiercely at the behest of Zeus; the deep seethed and all things trembed at his blast : the strength of mankind consumed away and the fruit failed in the season of spring."

Ibycus, Fragment 284 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III) (C6th B.C.) : "Thrakios (Thracian) Boreas with lightning rushing."

Simonides, Fragment 535 (from Himerius, Oration) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III) (C6th to 5th B.C.) : "The cables of the ship [i.e. the ship represented in the Panathenaic festival] will be untied by an ode, the ode which a holy chorus of Athenians chants, summoning the Anemos (Wind) to the boat, bidding it be present and fly in company with the sacred vessel; and the Anemos [probably Boreas], doubtless recognising its very own ode [the Kean (Cean) ode] which Simonides sang to it after the sea-battle, at once obeys the music and blowing hard astern drives the ship with its blast on the prosperous voyage. For now I wish to summon the Anemos (Wind) [to blow favourable for a voyage] in poetic fashion, but not having the ability to utter poetic words I wish to address the Anemos in accordance with the Kean Mousa (Cean Muse)."

Simonides, Fragment 6 (trans. Gerber, Vol. Greek Elegiac) (C6th to 5th B.C.) : "Of that which Boreas (the North Wind), rushing swiftly from Thrake (Thrace), once covered the sides of Olympos (Olympus), so that it gnawed the hearts of cloakless men but was humbled when claid alive in Pierian soil--of that let someone pour me my share."

Bacchylides, Fragment 13 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric IV) (C5th B.C.) : "On a dark-blossoming sea Boreas (the North Wind) rends men's hearts with the billows, coming face to face with them as night rises up, but ceases on the arrival of Eos (the Dawn) [his mother] who gives light to mortals and a gentle breeze levels the sea, and they belly out their sail before Notos' (the South Wind's) breath."

Aeschylus, Doubtul Fragment 261 (from Strabo, Geography 4. 1. 7) (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) : "The black North (melamboreas), a blast violent and chilling, descends in a tempest."

Aristophanes, Birds 1397 ff (trans. O'Neill) (Greek comedy C5th to 4th B.C.) : "Now rushing along the tracks of Notos (the South Wind), now nearing Boreas (the North Wind) across the infinite wastes of the Aither (Upper Air)."

Plato, Laws 661a (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) : "Nor does he outpace in speed of foot Thrêikion (Thracian) Boreas."

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 993 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) : "Zeus once more sent forth Boreas (the North Wind), and with his help the Argonauts stood out from the curving shore where the Amazones (Amazons) of Themiskyra (Themiscyra) were arming for battle."

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 1099 ff : "Zeus had roused Boreas (the North Wind) to show his might, and signalled by a downpour the rainy advent of Arktouros [i.e. the constellation Arcturus, whose rising signalled the onset of the rainy season]. All day Boreas blew softly though the topmost branches of the mountain trees and scarcely stirred the leaves. But at nightfall he fell on the sea with tremendous force and raised the billows with his shrieking blasts."

Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 114 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) : "To Thrakian Haimos (Thracian Mount Haemus), whence comes the hurricane of Boreas (the North Wind) bringing evil breath of frost to cloakless men."

Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 25 ff : "What defence is there more steadfast? Walls and stones may fall before the blast of Strymonian Boreas; but a god is unshaken for ever."

Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 64 ff : "[Ares] sitting armed on the high top of Thrakian Haimos (Thracian Mount Haemus), and his horses were stalled by the seven-chambered cave of Boreas."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 1. 624 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) : "Some tall pine snapped by the icy mace of Boreas, earth's forest-fosterling reared by a spring to stately height, amidst long mountain-glens."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 3. 698 ff : "For honour to [Thetis] the Goddess, Nereus' child, he [Zeus] sent to Aiolos (Aeolus) Hermes, bidding him summon the sacred might of his swift Anemoi (Winds), for that the corpse of Aiakos' (Aeacus') son [Akhilleus (Achilles)] must now be burned. With speed he went, and Aiolos refused not : tempestuous Boreas (the North Wind) in haste he summoned, and the wild blast of Zephyros (the West Wind); and to Troy sped they on their whirlwind wings. Fast in mad onrush, fast across the deep they darted; roared beneath them as they flew the sea, the land; above crashed thunder-voiced clouds headlong hurtling through the firmament. Then by decree of Zeus down on the pyre of slain Akhilleus, like a charging host swooped they; upleapt the Fire-god's madding breath: uprose a long wail from the Myrmidones. then, though with whirlwind rushes toiled the Winds, all day, all night, they needs must fan the flames ere that death-pyre burned out. Up to the heavens vast-volumed rolled the smoke. The huge tree-trunks groaned, writhing, bursting, in the heat, and dropped the dark-grey ash all round. So when the Winds had tirelessly fulfilled their mighty task, back to their cave they rode cloud-charioted."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 4. 550 ff : "Wild as the blasts of roaring Boreas (the North Wind) or shouting Notos (the South Wind), when with hurricane-swoop he heaves the wide sea high, when in the east uprises the disastrous Altar-star [in November] bringing calamity to seafarers."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 5. 408 ff : "Thick as the leaves which the strong Boreas' (the North-Wind's) might strews, when the waning year to winter turns."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 50 ff : "As flees the cloud-rack through the welkin wide scourged onward by Boreas' (the North-Wind's) Titan blasts, when winter-tide and snow are hard at hand, and darkness overpalls the firmament."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 204 ff : "He fell, like stately pine or silver fir uprooted by the fury of Boreas (the North Wind)."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 11. 130 ff : "As waves on-rolled by Boreas (the North Wind) foaming from the deep to the strand, are caught by another blast that whirlwind-like leaps, in a short lull of the north-wind, forth, smites them full-face, and hurls them back from the shore."

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 12. 189 ff : "Zeus, at the utmost verge of earth, was ware of all: straight left he Okeanos's (Oceanus') stream, and to wide heaven ascended, charioted upon the Anemoi (Winds), Euros (the East Wind), Boreas (the North), Zephyros (the West), and Notos (the South) [i.e. probably here imagined in the form of horses] : for Iris rainbow-plumed led 'neath the yoke of his eternal ear that stormy team, the ear which Aion (Aeon, Time) the immortal framed for him of adamant with never-wearying hands."

Boreas Hymn

Orphic Hymn 80 to Boreas (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) : "To Boreas (the North-Wind), Fumigation from Frankincense. Boreas, whose wintry blasts, terrific, tear the bosom of the deep surrounding air; cold icy power, approach, and favouring blow, and Thrake awhile desert, exposed to snow: the air's all-misty darkening state dissolve, with pregnant clouds whose frames in showers resolve. Serenely temper all within the sky, and wipe from moisture aither's splendid eye." Pankrates, Antinous (trans. Page, Vol. Select Papyri III, No. 128) (Greek poetry C2nd A.D.) : "He raged like a wave of the surging sea, when Zephyros (the West Wind) is awaked after the wind from Strymon [i.e. Boreas, the North Wind]."Anonymous (perhaps Pamprepius of Panopolis), Two Poems Fragments (trans. Page, Vol. Select Papyri III, No. 140) (Greek poetry C4th A.D.) :"A song which the blast of wind from snowy Threike (Thrace) [i.e. Boreas], dancing upon the wintry waves of the sea, sings to the surge at dawn. And sweetly it sings how the snow-white brightness of blazing Phaethon [Helios the Sun] is quenched by the liquid streams of rainclouds, and the fiery ((lacuna)) . . of the dog-star is extinguished by the watery snowstorms."

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1. 56 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "The World's Creator (Fabricator Mundi) [perhaps Khronos (Chronos), Father Time?] did not grant the Venti (Winds) [Anemoi] full freedom of the sky; who, even so, though each in separate regions rules his blasts, can well nigh tear the world apart, so fierce is brother's strife . . . To Scythia and the wastes beneath the Wain blustering Boreas (the North Wind) marched." Ovid, Metamorphoses 1. 262 & 326 ff : "[Zeus plans the great Deluge :] Swiftly within the Aeolus' cave he [Zeus] locked Aquilo (the North Wind) [Boreas] and the gales that drive away the gathered clouds . . . [and when] Juppiter [Zeus] saw the world a waste of waters, and of so many millions but one man alive . . . he bade the clouds disperse, and Aquilo (the North Wind) [Boreas] to drive the storms away." Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 681 ff : "[Boreas speaks :] ‘Force is what fits me, force! By force I drive the weeping clouds, by force I whip the sea, send gnarled oaks crashing, pack the drifts of snow, and hurl the hailstones down upon the lands. I, when I meet my brothers in the sky, the open sky, my combat field, I fight and wrestle with such force that heaven's height resounds with our collisions and a blaze of fire struck from the hollow clouds leaps forth. I, when I've pierced earth's vaulted passageways and in her deepest caverns strain and heave my angry shoulders, I put ghosts in fear, and with those tremors terrify the world . . .’ With words like these or others no less high, he waves his wings and, as they beat, the whole world felt the blast and all the wide sea surged. Trailing his dusty cloak across the peaks, he swept the ground and, clothed in darkness." Ovid, Heroides 11. 9 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :"Fierce as he [Aiolos (Aeolus)] is, far harsher than his own Euri (East-Winds) . . Surely, something comes from a life with savage winds; his temper is like that of his subjects. It is Notus (the South Wind), and Zephyrus (the West Wind), and Sithonian Aquilo [Boreas the North Wind], over whom he rules, and over thy pinions, wanton Eurus. He rules the winds." Ovid, Heroides 13. 15 ff : "Boreas (the North Wind) came swooping down, seized on and stretched your sails." Ovid, Heroides 18. 37 ff : "[The lover Leandros (Leander) prays for gentle seas :] ‘But thou, most ungentle of the sweeping winds, why art thou bent on waging war with me? It is I, O Boreas, if thou dost not know, and not the waves, against whom thou ragest! What wouldst thou do, were it not that love is known to thee? Cold as thou art, canst thou yet deny, base wind that of yore thou wert aflame with Actaean fires? If, when eager to seek thy joys, someone were to close to thee the paths of air, in what wise wouldst thou endure it? Have mercy on me, I pray; be mild, and stir a more gentle breeze--so may Hippotades [Aiolos (Aeolus)] lay upon thee no harsh command.’"Ovid, Heroides 21. 41 ff : "Tossed like a ship which steadfast Boreas (the North Wind) drives out into the deep, and tide and wave bring back."Virgil, Georgics 2. 316 ff (trans. Fairclough) (Roman bucolic C1st B.C.) :"When Boreas (the North Wind) blows, then winter grips the land with frost." Virgil, Georgics 3. 196 ff : "When gathered Aquilo (the North Wind) [Boreas] swoops down from Hyperborean coasts, driving on Scythia's storms and dry clouds, then the deep cornfields and the watery plains quiver under the gentle gusts, the treetops rustle, and long rollers press shoreward; on flies the wind, sweeping his flight the fields and seas alike." Seneca, Medea 329 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : "[Before men first sailed the seas :] Unsullied the ages our fathers saw . . . Then every man inactive kept to his own shores and lived to old age on ancestral fields, rich with but little, knowing no wealth save what his home soil had yielded. Not yet could any read the sky and use the stars with which the heavens are spangled; not yet could ships avoid the rainy Hyades . . . not yet did Boreas (the North Wind), not yet Zephyrus (the West Wind) have names." Seneca, Oedipus 473 ff : "Those wandering tribes [the Thrakians (Thracians)] whom neighbouring Boreas smites." Seneca, Phaedra 935 ff : "Beyond the reach of winter and his hoar snows, thou leave behind thee the threatening rage of cold Boreas (the North Wind)." Seneca, Phaedra 1128 ff : "The mountain-peaks, lifted to airy heights, catch Euros (the East Wind), catch Notos (the South Wind), mad Boreas' (the North Wind's) threats, and the rain-fraught Corus (North-West Wind) [Greek Skiron]." Seneca, Troades 395 ff : "As clouds, which but now we saw lowering, are scattered by the cold blasts of Boreas (the North Wind)." Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 1. 574 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "Meantime fierce Boreas (the North Wind) from his eyrie in Pangaeus spied the sails [of the Argonauts] set to the wind in the midst of the deep, and straightway turns his rapid course to Aeolia and the Tyrrhene caves. Every forest groans beneath the speeding wings of the god, the crops are laid, and the sea darkens beneath his hurtling flight. There stand in the Sicilian Sea on the side of retreating Pelorum a crag, the terror of the straits; high as are the piles it lifts into the air, even so deep are those that sink below the surface of the waters; and hard by may one see another land with rocks and caverns no less terrible; in the former dwell Acamas and naked Pyragmon, the latter is the home of Squalls and Winds and shipwrecking Storms; from here they pass to the lands over the wide ocean, from here in bygone days would they spread turmoil in the heavens and in the disastrous sea--for at that time no Aeolus was their master . . .--until the All-powerful [Zeus] thundered from sky upon the trembling blasts and appointed them a king [Aiolos (Aeolus)], whom the fierce band were bidden to revere; iron and a twofold wall of rocks quell Euros (the East Wind) within the mountain. When the king can no longer curb their roaring mouths, then of his own will he unbars the doors and by granting egress lulls their savage complaints. Boreas now with these tidings drives him from his lofty throne : ‘Ah! What monstrous deed, Aeolus, have I spied from the heights of Pangaeus! Grecian heroes have devised a strange engine with the axe [a boat], and now triumph joyously over the seas with a huge sail, nor have I power of myself to stir up the sea from its sandy depths, as I had or ever I was fettered and imprisoned. This it is that gives them courage and confidence in the vessel they have built, that they see Boreas ruled by a king. Grant me to overwhelm the Greeks with their mad bark : the thought of my children [the Boreades on the Argo] moves me not, only do thou quench these threats of mortal man, while still the shores of Thesally and as yet no other lands have seen their sails.’ He ceased speaking: but within all the Winds began to roar and clamour for the open sea. Then did Hippotades [Aiolos (Aeolus), son of Hippotas] 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 dishevelled 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 he 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." Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 6. 164 ff : "Boreas drives not so many billows from ocean's bounds, nor so answers his brothers [the other Anemoi] from opposing waves." Statius, Thebaid 1. 346 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "And now the rocky prisons of Aeolia are smitten and groan, and the coming storm threatens with hoarse bellowing: the Venti (Winds) [Anemoi] loud clamouring meet in conflicting currents, and fling loose heaven's vault from its fastened hinges, while each strives for mastery of the sky; but Auster (the South Wind) [Notos] most violent thickens gloom on gloom with whirling eddies of darkness, and pours down rain which keen Boreas (the North Wind) with his freezing breath hardens into hail; quivering lightnings gleam, and from colliding air bursts sudden fire." Statius, Thebaid 8. 422 : "When threatening Jove [Zeus] has loosed the reins of winds and tempests, and sends alternate hurricanes to afflict the world, opposing forces meet in heaven, now Auster's (the South Wind's) storms prevail, now Aquilo's (the North Wind's) [Boreas'], till in the conflict of the winds one conquers, be it Auster's overwhelming rains, or Aquilo's clear air." Musaeus, Hero & Leander 135 ff (Greek poet C6th A.D.) : "Sea mingled with upper air, and everywhere rose the sound of warring winds; Euros (the East-Wind) blew hard against Zephyros (the West-Wind), and Notos (the South-Wind) hurled mighty menacings against Boreas (the North-Wind) and the din was unrelenting of the loud-thundering sea." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 1. 68 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "And artful Boreas bellied out all her [Europa sitting on the back of Zeus in the form of a bull] shaking robe with amorous breath, love-sick himself [for Oreithyia], and in secret jealousy, whistled on the pair of unripe breasts." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 47. 302 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "[Ariadne abandoned on the island of Naxos by Theseus :] She prayed to Boreas and adjured the wind, adjured Oreithyia [wife of Boreas] to bring back the boy [Theseus] to the land of Naxos and to let her see that sweet ship again. She besought hardhearted Aiolos (Aeolus) yet more; he heard her prayer and obeyed, sending a contrary wind to blow, but Boreas lovelorn himself cared nothing for the maid stricken with desire--yes, even the Aurai (Aurae, Breezes) themselves must have had a spite against the maiden when they carried the ship to the Athenian land . . . ‘Who stole the man of Athens [Theseus]? If it should be Boreas blowing, I appeal to Oreithyia [his wife to intervene in the name of love]: but Oreithyia hates me, because she also has the blood of Marathon [she was an Athenian], whence beloved Theseus came.’"Suidas s.v. Boras (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) : "Boras (Of food, prey): Of food or nourishment. But Borras (Boreas) is the wind, and it is declined Borra [in the genitive]; the nominative plural [is] Borrai. ‘Harsh north winds blowing.’ . . . [Note that] they consider Boreas an ally of the Athenians. And see the place where the army of Xerxes suffered misfortune, under Aphetai (Aphetae)."

Descirption

Boreas, like the rest of the wind gods, was said to be the son of Eos, the goddess of the dawn, by her husband Astraeus , a minor star-god. He is thus brother to the rest of the Anemoi (the wind gods), the five star-gods and the justice goddess Astraea.

Boreas was closely associated with horses, storms, loneliness, solitude, absence, lack, sadness, depression, calmness, serenity and winter. He was said to have fathered twelve colts, after taking the form of a stallion, to the mares of Erichthonius, king of Dardania. These were said to be able to run across a field of grain without trampling the plants. Pliny the Elder thought that mares might stand with their hindquarters to the North Wind and bear foals without a stallion. The Greeks believed that his home was in Thrace, and Herodotus and Pliny both describe a northern land known as Hyperborea "Beyond the North Wind" where people lived in complete happiness and had extraordinarily long lifespans.

He is said to have fathered three giant Hyperborean priests of Apollo by Chione. Pausanias wrote that Boreas had snakes instead of feet, though in art he was usually depicted with winged human feet. In ancient art, he is usually depicted as a bearded older man.

Mythology

Boreas was said to have kidnapped Orithyia, an Athenian princess, from the Ilisos. Boreas had taken a fancy to Orithyia and had initially pleaded for her favours, hoping to persuade her. When this failed, he reverted to his usual temper and abducted her as she danced on the banks of the Ilisos. Boreas wrapped Orithyia up in a cloud, raped her, and with her, Boreas fathered two sons—the Boreads, Zethes and Calais, who were part of the crew of the Argo as Argonauts and two daughters Chione, goddess of snow, and Cleopatra.

From then on, the Athenians saw Boreas as a relative by marriage. When Athens was threatened by Xerxes, the people prayed to Boreas, who was said to have then caused winds to sink 400 Persian ships. A cult was established in Athens in 480 B. C. E. in gratitude to the Boreas for destroying the approaching Persian fleet. A similar event had occurred twelve years earlier, and Herodotus writes:

Now I cannot say if this was really why the Persians were caught at anchor by the stormwind, but the Athenians are quite positive that, just as Boreas helped them before, so Boreas was responsible for what happened on this occasion also. And when they went home they built the god a shrine by the River Ilissus. Two other cases of Boreas being honored by Greek states for similar assistance have been described, in Megalopolis (against Laconia) and in Thurii (against Syracuse). The latter case had Boreas being granted citizenship and a land plot

The abduction of Orithyia was popular in Athens before and after the Persian War, and was frequently depicted on vase paintings. In these paintings, Boreas was portrayed as a bearded man in a tunic, with shaggy hair that is sometimes frosted and spiked. The abduction was also dramatized in Aeschylus's lost play Oreithyia. some versions of Hyacinthus's story, Boreas supplants his brother Zephyrus as the wind-god that bore a one-sided love for the beautiful Spartan prince, who preferred Apollo over him.[10]

In other accounts, Boreas was the father of Butes (by another woman) and the lover of the nymph Pitys. In one story, both Pan and Boreas vied for Pitys's affections, and tried to make her choose between them. To impress her, Boreas uprooted all the trees with his might. Pan only laughed, and Pitys chose him instead of Boreas. Angry, Boreas chased Pitys down and threw her off a cliff, killing her. Gaia, pitying the girl, changed her dead body into a pine tree.[11]

During the journey of the Argo, Argonauts Zetes and Calais, Boreas's sons, describe Apollo as "beloved of our sire", perhaps implying a romantic connection between the two gods.[12]

Cult of Boreas

Herodotus, Histories 7. 189 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) : "The story is told that because of an oracle the Athenians invoked Boreas, the north wind, to help them, since another oracle told them to summon their son-in-law as an ally. According to the Hellenic story, Boreas had an Attic wife, Orithyia, the daughter of Erekhtheus (Erechtheus), ancient king of Athens. Because of this connection, so the tale goes, the Athenians considered Boreas to be their son-in-law. They were stationed off Khalkis (Chalcis) in Euboia (Euboea), and when they saw the storm rising, they then, if they had not already, sacrificed to and called upon Boreas and Orithyia to help them by destroying the barbarian fleet, just as before at Athos. I cannot say whether this was the cause of Boreas falling upon the barbarians as they lay at anchor, but the Athenians say that he had come to their aid before and that he was the agent this time. When they went home, they founded a sacred precinct of Boreas beside the Ilissos (Ilissus) river.There was no counting how many grain-ships and other vessels were destroyed. The generals of the fleet were afraid that the Thessalians might attack them now that they had been defeated, so they built a high palisade out of the wreckage. The storm lasted three days. Finally the [Persian] Magi made offerings and cast spells upon the Wind [Boreas], sacrificing also to Thetis and the Nereides. In this way they made the Wind stop on the fourth day--or perhaps it died down on its own."Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4. 21 (trans. Conybeare) (Greek biography C1st to C2nd A.D.) : "Surely you [the Athenians] might have some respect for the Winds that were your allies and once blew mightily to protect you . . . Boreas who was your patron, and who of all the winds is the most masculine . . . became the lover of Oreithyia."Suidas s.v. Aphetai (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) : "Aphetai (Aphetae) : A place in Athens where the expedition of Xerxes had its first setback because of the unsuitability of the harbors. For this reason they consider Boreas to be an ally of the Athenians. The god [Apollon of Delphoi] had prophesied that they should sacrifice to their kinsman wind; he is called kinsman because of Oreithyia."

II. MEGALOPOLIS Chief City of Arcadia (Southern Greece) Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 36. 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "On the right of the road [outside Megalopolis, Arkadia (Arcadia)] there has been made a precinct to Boreas, and the Megalopolitans offer sacrifices every year, holding none of the gods in greater honour than Boreas, because he proved their saviour from the Lakedaimonians (Lacedaemonians) under Agis."

III. THURII (THOURIOI) Town in Lucania (Southern Italy) Aelian, Historical Miscellany 12. 61 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) : "Dionysios (Dionysius) [tyrant of Syrakousa (Syracuse)] attacked Thourioi (Thurii) with his fleet, bringing three hundred ships manned with hoplites. A headwind from the north damaged the vessels and destroyed his armada. As a result Thourioi (Thurii) offered sacrifice to Boreas (the North Wind), decreed rights of citizenship to the wind (anemos), allocated to it a house and plot of land, and established an annual festival. So the Athenians were not alone in claiming kinship with him; the Thourians (Thurians) also declared him to be their benefactor. Pausanias [8.36.6] says the men of Megalopolis did the same."