Anemoi
The Anemoi ( Greek Ἄνεμοι "winds" Sing. Ἄνεμος ) were in Greek mythology the gods of wind and personifications of certain winds.
myth
They were considered children of the titan Astraios , the god of dusk, and the Eos (in Roman mythology Aurora ), the goddess of the dawn.
presentation
The anemoi are depicted as winged people of different ages, for example in the reliefs of the Tower of the Winds in Athens or in the Roman mosaics in the house of the drinking competition in Seleukia Pieria .
In mythology they appear not only as humans, but also as divine horses that pull Zeus' chariot as quadriga or stand by him in the battle against Typhon .
And they not only appeared as horses, but also begot them. According to Aelian , horse breeders believed that mares got pregnant from the winds. Virgil reports that, especially in the spring, they would stand against the winds on high cliffs, especially the Boreas, only to suddenly storm away in a maddened, mad run, and that they would become so pregnant from the wind.
cult
The anemoi were rarely worshiped, but they played an important role in Greek history, as it was the winds that partly destroyed and partly dispersed their navy during the invasion of the Persians. Herodotus reports that initially the residents of Delphi received an oracle instructing them to erect an altar in the district of Thyia den Anemoi. The Athenians also sacrificed and prayed especially to Boreas, with whom they believed they were particularly connected because of his connection with the Attic nymph Oreithyia .
Pausanias reports of altars of the Anemoi in Titane and Koroneia .
Greek wind system
The names of the anemoi also simply denoted certain wind directions. In Hesiod , only three of the Anemoi are initially mentioned:
- Zephyros , the west wind, it brought spring with the early summer breezes
- Boreas , the north wind, it brought winter with the cold air
- Notos : The south wind, it brought summer with thunderstorms and storms
This corresponded to the only three seasons for the Greeks in the time of Hesiod. One of the Orphic hymns was dedicated to each of these three wind gods . The fourth wind, Euros , consisting of the (South) East blows and corresponds to the fall, appears in Homer in the Odyssey .
In the reliefs of the Tower of the Winds from the 1st century BC In addition to these four winds of the cardinal directions, four other winds of the secondary directions appear:
Surname | Wind direction | presentation |
---|---|---|
Boreas | north | Man with a coat and a shell into which he blows |
Kaikias | Northeast | Man, pour round objects (hailstones?) From a round sign |
Apheliotes | east | Adolescent wearing a coat filled with fruits and cereals |
Euros | southeast | old man, wrapped in a cloak |
Notos | south | Man emptying a jug |
Lips | southwest | Boy with ship's stern |
Zephyros | west | Boy wearing a shawl filled with flowers |
Skiron | Northwest | bearded man carrying a bronze container filled with charcoal and hot ashes |
Roman wind system
The Roman equivalent of the Anemoi were the Venti . Vitruvius in his work de architectura gives a detailed list of winches using a 24-part compass rose , i.e. H. for each of the 8 main winches there are two winches turned by 15 °:
Surname | direction | Degree | annotation |
---|---|---|---|
Sept Trio | North | 0 ° | from septem “seven” and trio “threshing ox”, the name of the big dipper among the Romans |
Gallicus | North third northeast | 15 ° | from the direction of the province of Gallia cisalpina (seen from Rome) |
Supernas | Northeast third north | 30 ° | from the direction of northern Italy |
Aquilo | Northeast | 45 ° | Roman equivalent of Boreas |
Boreas | Northeast third east | 60 ° | |
Carbas | East third northeast | 75 ° | Origin is unclear, probably Greek |
Solanus | east | 90 ° | |
Ornithias | East-third-southeast | 105 ° | Spring wind with which the migratory birds come |
Eurocircias | Southeast third east | 120 ° | |
Eurus | Southeast | 135 ° | |
Vulturnus | Southeast-third-south | 150 ° | from the direction of Monte Vulture |
Euronotus | South-third-southeast | 165 ° | |
oyster | south | 180 ° | |
Altanus | South-third-southwest | 195 ° | Wind coming from the high seas ( altus ) |
Libonotus | Southwest-third-south | 210 ° | |
Africus | southwest | 225 ° | |
Subvesperus | Southwest Third West | 240 ° | |
Argestes | West-third-southwest | 255 ° | Greek ἀργέστης |
Favonius | west | 270 ° | by fovere "warming" |
Otis | West-third-northwest | 285 ° | |
Circius | Northwest Third West | 300 ° | |
Caurus | northwest | 315 ° | also Corus |
Corus | Northwest Third North | 330 ° | |
Thrascias | North third northwest | 345 ° |
See also
literature
- Karl Tümpel: Anemoi . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2176-2180.
- Georg Kaibel : Antique compass roses. In: Hermes . Vol. 20, No. 4 (1885), pp. 579-624.
- Hermann Steuding : Wind Gods . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 6, Leipzig 1937, Col. 511-517 ( digitized version ).
- Kora Neuser: Anemoi: Studies for the representation of the winds and wind gods in antiquity. Archeologica 19. Bretschneider, Rome 1982.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Libraries of Apollodorus 1.9
- ↑ Quintus from Smyrna Posthomerica 12.189 ff
- ↑ Nonnos of Panopolis Dionysiaka 2.392ff, 2.524ff
- ^ Claudius Aelianus De natura animalium 4.6
- ↑ Virgil Georgica 3.267ff
- ↑ Herodotus Histories 7.178
- ↑ Pausania's description of Greece 2.12.1, 9.34.3
- ↑ Hesiod Theogony 371-373.
- ↑ Orphic Hymn 80 (Boreas), 81 (Zephyros) and 82 (Notos)
- ↑ Homer Odyssey 5,291; Quintus von Smyrna Posthomerica 12.189, Gaius Valerius Flaccus Argonautica 1.574, Nonnos von Panopolis Dionysiaka 6.18
- ↑ Vitruv de architectura 1.6.2 ff
- ↑ Hildebrecht Hommel: Sebasmata. Vol. 2. Scientific studies on the New Testament Vol. 32. Mohr, Tübingen 1984, ISBN 3-16-144723-9 , pp. 372f.
- ↑ Titus Livius Ab urbe condita 22.43.10, 22.46.9