"Eos shared love's bed with Astraeus
and bore him the mighty-spirited winds,
bright Zephyrus and gusty Boreas and Notus."
It stands to reason that Hesiod would claim that the gods of the winds - Zephyrus, Boreas, and Notus - were descended from the goddess of Dawn and a Titan with a name that means "starry", for the winds could be thought of as coming from the sky. Individually these wind gods represented the West Wind (Zephyrus), the North Wind (Boreas), and the South Wind (Notus). And in myth and literature, Boreas is sometimes compared to his more (usually) gentle brothers.
One the myths of Boreas deals with his abduction of Oreithyia. According to the story, Boreas developed a passion for this beautiful daughter of King Erechtheus, but Oreithyia wanted nothing to do with the god. However, one day Boreas saw her dancing, and struck with desire, he carried off the lovely woman (some versions say he hid her in a cloud) and made her his bride. The couple had two winged sons - Calais and Zetes.
Boreas in Art History
Gallery | For pictures and information about Boreas in art, visit the Mythography gallery!
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