In Greek mythology, Eurus, or Euros was the god of the east or southeast wind. He was the brother of Boreas, the north wind, Zephyrus, the west wind and Notus, the south wind. His other brothers were Kaikias, the god of the northeast wind; Apeliotes, who was also a god of the east wind; Lips, the god of the southwest wind and Skeiron, the god of the northwest wind. Together, they were called the Anemoi. They are depicted as young men with wings who were bearded or clean-shaven. They were also depicted as horses. Their parents were Astreus and Eos. Eos was the beautiful goddess of the dawn while Astreus was a Titan, the race of gods that came after the primordial gods and before the Olympians. It is unclear whether Astreus was a first or second generation Titan. In Roman mythology, Eurus’ counterpart is called Vulturnus.
Eurus – God Of The East Wind
The god of the east wind is the father of Otrera, an Amazon Queen. Her mother is unknown. Otrera was the wife of Ares, the god of war and founded a shrine dedicated to the goddess Artemis at Ephesos. She and Ares are the parents of the famous Amazons Hippolyte and Penthesileia. The latter fought in the Trojan war and was killed by Achilles. When he removed her helm and saw that she was a beautiful woman, he ordered her returned to the Trojans to be buried with honor.
Eurus was also associated with autumn as well as rain and warm weather. In this avatar, he was depicted bearing a sheath of grain and a sickle. His symbol is water pouring out of an upside down vase. He lived near the home of Helios, the Titan sun god and Eos’ brother. Helios’ palace was in the east, and every morning he set forth on a chariot pulled by magnificent horses to bring the dawn. He is probably accompanied by Eurus as well as his sister Eos.
Eurus In The Odyssey
As a minor god, Eurus is a subordinate of Aeolus, the storm god and the ruler of Aeolia, a floating island. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew happen upon the island. Aeolus shelter them on the island for a month then told the west wind to blow them back to their home in Ithaca. He placed the other winds, including Eurus, in a bag made of ox-hide and gave them to Odysseus. The west wind dutifully blew the crew homeward, but at one point Odysseus fell asleep. His crew was curious as to what the ox-hide bag contained, and when they opened it Eurus and his brothers flew out with such force that the ship was blown back to Aeolia. After that, Aeolus would not help Odysseus and his men. He assumed that the crew’s return meant that they had fallen out of favor with the gods.
At another point, Juno, the queen of the gods, asked Aeolus to unleash the winds on the fleet headed by Aenaes during the Trojan War, but the god Poseidon calmed the winds.
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