Eurus

{{For|the fictional character|List of Sherlock characters#Eurus Holmes}}

{{Infobox deity

| type = Greek

| image = Eurus (The god of the east wind).jpg

| caption = Eurus on a mosaic from Antioch.

| god_of = God of the East Wind

| Roman_equivalent = Vulturnus

| name = Eurus

| abode = Sky

| script_name = Greek

| script = {{lang|grc|Εὖρος}}

| parents = Astraeus and Eos

| siblings = Winds (Boreas, Notus, and Zephyrus), Eosphorus, the Stars, Memnon, Emathion, Astraea

}}

In Greek mythology and religion, Eurus ({{langx|grc|Εὖρος|Euros|east wind}}) is the god and personification of the east wind, although sometimes he is also said to be southeast specifically.{{sfn|Grimal|1987|loc=s.v. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas00grim/page/157/mode/2up?view=theater Eurus]}} He is one of the four principal wind gods, the Anemoi, alongside Boreas (north wind), Zephyrus (west wind) and Notus (south wind). Eurus is featured rarely in ancient literature and art, 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.

Etymology

The ancient Greek noun {{lang|grc|εὖρος}} (eûros) refers to the wind that blows from the east.{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*e%3Aentry+group%3D303%3Aentry%3D*eu%29%3Dros εὖρος]}} Its ultimate etymology is not clear, although it has been variously connected to the Greek words for the dawn ({{langx|grc|ἠώς}}, ēṓs) and aura ({{langx|grc|αὔρα}}, aúra).{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*e%3Aentry+group%3D303%3Aentry%3D*eu%29%3Dros εὖρος]}}

Attributes and family

Eurus is traditionally the god of the east or south-east wind.{{sfn|Grimal|1987|loc=s.v. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas00grim/page/157/mode/2up?view=theater Eurus]}}{{sfn|Smith|1873|loc=s.v. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DU%3Aentry+group%3D5%3Aentry%3Dventi-bio-1 Venti]}} He has been both described as rain-bringing and a dry type of wind.{{cite encyclopedia | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e406210 | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/eurus-e406210 | last1 = Hünemörder | first1 = Christian | publisher = Brill Reference Online | encyclopedia = Brill's New Pauly | last2 = Bloch | first2 = René | location = Hamburg, Berne | title = Eurus | date = 2006 | editor-first1 = Hubert | editor-last1 = Cancik | editor-first2 = Helmuth | editor-last2 = Schneider | translator = Christine F. Salazar | access-date = April 13, 2023| url-access = subscription }}

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.{{sfn|Grimal|1987|loc=s.v. [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas00grim/page/157/mode/2up?view=theater Eurus]}}{{cite encyclopedia | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/zephyrus-e12216400 | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e12216400 | encyclopedia = Brill's New Pauly | last = Rausch | first = Sven | location = Hamburg | title = Zephyrus | date = 2006 | editor-first1 = Hubert | editor-last1 = Cancik | editor-first2 = Helmuth | editor-last2 = Schneider | translator = Christine F. Salazar | access-date = April 13, 2023 | publisher = Brill Reference Online| url-access = subscription }} Instead of Eurus, Hesiod only speaks of "Argestes" for the fourth, which could also refer to Apeliotes occasionally (the god of the southeast wind).{{sfn|Kerenyi|1951|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7346/page/n231/mode/2up?view=theater 205]}} 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.

Mythology

File:Relief of the wind god Eurus on February 28, 2022.jpg in Athens, Greece.]]

In his few appearances in mythology, Eurus is usually paired with Notus, the south wind, like Zephyrus is paired with Boreas.{{sfn|Smith|1873|loc=s.v. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DU%3Aentry+group%3D5%3Aentry%3Dventi-bio-1 Venti]}} Like Notus{{sfn|Grimal|1987|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas00grim/page/311/mode/2up?view=theater 312]}} 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. Eurus has no known wife, lovers or children.

= ''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.{{sfn|Myrsiades|2019|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2bcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT104 104]}} Aeolus receives Odysseus and his crew warmly, and keeps them as guests for a month.Homer, Odyssey [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D1 1-45] 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.{{sfn|Myrsiades|2019|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2bcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT104 104]}}

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.{{sfn|Gantz|1996|page=[https://archive.org/details/early-greek-myth-a-guide-timothy-gantz/page/704/mode/2up?view=theater 705]}} 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.{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA100 100]}}

= Other appearances =

File:Pergamon-Altar - Pferde 3.jpg, Pergamon Museum in Berlin.]]

In the Dionysiaca, he and his confirmed brothers live with their father Astraeus; Eurus serves nectar in cups when Demeter pays the family a visit.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/216/mode/2up?view=theater 6.28]

In the Pergamon Altar, which depicts the battle of the gods against the Giants, Eurus and the other three wind gods are shown in the shape of horses who pull Hera's chariot;LIMC [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ac4ebff2462-9 617 (Venti)]{{cite book | first = Max | last = Kunze | title = Der grosse Marmoraltar von Pergamon | trans-title = The Large Marble Altar of Pergamon | publisher = Staatliche Museem zu Berlin | language = German | location = Berlin | date = 1988 | pages = 23–24}} traces of their equine form are also found in Quintus Smyrnaeus's works, where they pull Zeus's chariot instead.Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy [https://archive.org/details/falloftroy00quin/page/500/mode/2up?view=theater 12.189]

Cult

Early attestation of Eurus and wind-related worship is found in the Mycenaean Greek words {{Lang|gmy-latn|a-ne-mo-i-je-re-ja}} (Linear B: {{lang|gmy|{{script|Linb|𐀀𐀚𐀗𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊}}}}) and {{Lang|gmy-latn|a-ne-mo i-je-re-ja}} (Linear B: {{lang|gmy|{{script|Linb|𐀀𐀚𐀗𐄀𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀊}}}}), that is, "priestess of the winds", found on the KN Fp 1 and KN Fp 13 tablets.{{cite web | url = http://minoan.deaditerranean.com/resources/linear-b-sign-groups/a/a-ne-mo/ | title = a-ne-mo | last = Raymoure | first = K. A. | work = Linear B Transliterations | publisher = Deaditerranean. Dead Languages of the Mediterranean | access-date = 2014-03-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190212181702/http://minoan.deaditerranean.com/resources/linear-b-sign-groups/a/a-ne-mo/ | archive-date = 2019-02-12 | url-status = dead}}{{cite web | url = https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/1 | title = KN Fp 1 + 31}}{{cite web | url = https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/13 | title = KN 13 Fp(1) (138)}}{{cite web | url = http://www.hf.uio.no/ifikk/english/research/projects/damos/ | title = DĀMOS: Database of Mycenaean at Oslo - Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas}} In post-Greek Dark Ages times, traces of Eurus's worship as part of the Four Winds is found in Titane in Corinthia where a sanctuary to the Winds stood,Pausanias, Description of Greece [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.12.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 2.12.1] Sparta where Eurus was described as the 'saviour of Sparta,' Coronea where they had an altar,Pausanias, Description of Greece [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D34%3Asection%3D3 9.34.3] and Attica.

Vulturnus

For the Romans, Eurus was identified with the god Vulturnus ("he from Vultur", a mountain in Apulia, perhaps related to the world "vulture"), closely associated with dry and warm weather. He was also called Africanus (meaning "he from Africa") occasionally, due to the dry type of east wind the ancients knew.Lactantius Placidus, On the Thebaid [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_fYj9nL6HlREC/page/76/mode/2up?view=theater 2.4]

Genealogy

{{chart top|Eurus's family treeHesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+132 132–138], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 337–411], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+453 453–520], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+901 901–906, 915–920]; Caldwell, pp. 8–11, tables 11–14. Eurus himself is not named in the Theogony.|collapsed=no}}

{{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |URA |y|GAI |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|y|PON|URA=Uranus|GAI=Gaia|PON=Pontus}}

{{chart|,|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | |!}}

{{chart|!|OCE |y|TET | | | |HYP |y|THE | | | | |CRI |y|EUR|OCE=Oceanus|TET=Tethys|HYP=Hyperion|THE=Theia|CRI=Crius|EUR=Eurybia}}

{{chart|!| |,|-|^|-|.| | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | |,|-|-|^|v|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart|!|RIV | |OCE | |HEL | |SEL | |EOS |y |AST | |PAL | |PER |RIV=The Rivers|OCE=The Oceanids|HEL=Helios|SEL=SeleneAlthough usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as in Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+371 371–374], in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (4), [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=HH+4+99&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138 99–100], Selene is instead made the daughter of Pallas the son of Megamedes.|EOS=Eos|AST=Astraeus|PAL=Pallas|PER=Perses}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |EUR | |ASR | |PLA |EUR=EURUS
Anemoi|ASR=AstraeaAstraea is not mentioned by Hesiod, instead she is given as a daughter of Eos and Astraeus in Hyginus Astronomica [https://topostext.org/work/207#2.25.1 2.25.1].|PLA=Stars}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{chart|)|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | |}}

{{chart|!| | | | |CRO |y|RHE | | | | | | | |COE |y|PHO | | |COE=Coeus|PHO=Phoebe|CRO=Cronus|RHE=Rhea}}

{{chart|!| |,|-|v|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|v|-|.| | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | }}

{{chart|!|HES |!|HER | |HAD |!|ZEU | | | |LET | |AST | |HES=Hestia|HER=Hera|HAD=Hades|ZEU=Zeus|LET=Leto|AST=Asteria}}

{{chart|!| | |DEM | | | | | |POS | | | | | | | | | | | | | |DEM=Demeter|POS=Poseidon}}

{{chart|`|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart| | | | |IAP |y|CLY | | | | | |MNE |~|y|~|ZEU |~|y|~|THE |IAP=Iapetus|CLY=Clymene (or Asia)According to Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+507 507–511], Clymene, one of the Oceanids, the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, at Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+351 351], was the mother by Iapetus of Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus, while according to Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D3 1.2.3], another Oceanid, Asia was their mother by Iapetus.|MNE=Mnemosyne|ZEU=(Zeus)|THE=Themis}}

{{chart|ATL | |MEN | |PRO | |EPI | | | | |MUS | | | |HOR |ATL=AtlasAccording to Plato, Critias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg032.perseus-eng1:113d 113d–114a], Atlas was the son of Poseidon and the mortal Cleito.|MEN=Menoetius|PRO=PrometheusIn Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 18, 211, 873 (Sommerstein, pp. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.445.xml 444–445 n. 2], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.467.xml 446–447 n. 24], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.539.xml 538–539 n. 113]) Prometheus is made to be the son of Themis.|EPI=Epimetheus|MUS=The Muses|HOR=The Horae}}

References

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