{"id":1042,"date":"2019-10-18T13:29:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T12:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/?post_type=gods&p=1042"},"modified":"2023-08-19T09:33:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T08:33:26","slug":"zephyrus","status":"publish","type":"gods","link":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/gods\/zephyrus\/","title":{"rendered":"Zephyrus – The God of The West Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zephyrus, also sometimes known as Zephyros or simply Zephyr in English, is the god of the west wind. One of four seasonal wind gods, or Anemoi<\/a>, Zephyrus is the brother of Notus<\/a>, the god of the south wind, Eurus<\/a>, the god of the east wind, and Boreas<\/a>, the god of the east wind. The offspring of Astraeus<\/a> and Eos<\/a> in some versions of myth, and Gaia in other stories, Zephyrus had various wives, depending on the story in which he was featured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zephyrus In Various Myths<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In some stories, he is reported to be the husband of Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. Lyric poets attribute Zephyrus\u2019s marriage to Iris<\/a> with the creation of Pothos, the god of passion. In other stories he is believed to have abducted the nymph Chloris, or Khloris. Zephyrus then transformed into the goddess of flowers upon their marriage. Karpos, directly translated as \u201cfruit\u201d in Greek, is the son of Zephyrus and Chloris; Chloris is associated with spring, greenery, and especially flowers. Zephyrus himself is also associated with spring and greenery. The god of the west wind was favored by the Greeks as a beneficial god. As the west wind became more prevalent in the springtime, heralding the end of winter and the beginning of new growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, Zephyrus is also sometimes considered a god of spring. A third wife, Podarge the harpy, also known as Celaeno<\/a>, is attributed to Zephyrus in some tales; the children that resulted from this marriage, Balius and Xanthus, are the immortal horses that drew Achilles\u2019s chariot during the Trojan War. Because of Zephyrus\u2019s equine offspring, this god is often associated with horses, or, in some cases, with tigers. By some accounts, Zephyrus is believed to reside in a cave on Mount Haemus in Thrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Recognised Myths<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most famous tale centered on Zephyrus is that of Hyacinth, a Spartan youth renowned for his beauty and athleticism. This alluring prince became the subject of Zephyrus\u2019s affection, and the god attempted to woo him. However, Hyacinth\u2019s beauty had also caught the eye of Apollo<\/a>, the god of sun and light, who competed fiercely with Zephyrus to win the boy\u2019s love. In the end, Apollo won out, and Zephyrus was left heartbroken at the loss of Hyacinth. Stung by rejection, Zephyrus came upon Apollo and Hyacinth throwing a discus. Overcome with anger, sent a a great gust of wind at the happy couple. This caused the discus to strike Hyacinth forcefully in the head, killing him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mourning the loss of his lover, Apollo created the hyacinth, or larkspur, flower from Hyacinth\u2019s blood to commemorate the beautiful boy. Enraged by Zephyrus\u2019s actions, Apollo sought revenge against him, but Zephyrus was protected by Eros<\/a>, god of love, as the Hyacinth\u2019s tragic death was caused by an act of love. In return for this protection, Zephyrus must pledge to serve Eros from that point onward. In a lesser role, Zephyrus, now indebted to Eros, is tasked with transporting Psyche<\/a>, a beautiful woman, to Cupid<\/a> for marriage. Additionally, Zephyrus is said to have guided Odysseus<\/a> in his travels and Aphrodite<\/a> to the seas of Paphos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zephyrus is often depicted as youthful and handsome. He sports wings on many of the mosaics or vases of ancient Greece. In other depictions Zephyrus is portrayed as amorphous, shapeless winds. Or, in a tribute to his role as a god of spring, a basket of unripe fruit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zephyrus, also sometimes known as Zephyros or simply Zephyr in English, is the god of the west wind. One of four seasonal wind gods, or Anemoi, Zephyrus is the brother of Notus, the god of the south wind, Eurus, the god of the east wind, and Boreas, the god of the east wind. The offspring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1085,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,12],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods\/1042"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/gods"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1042"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods\/1042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4329,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gods\/1042\/revisions\/4329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greekgodsandgoddesses.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}