Boreas
Greek · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Greek personification of the north wind, son of the Titan Astraeus and Eos. Carried off the Athenian princess Oreithyia from the banks of the Ilissus and fathered the winged Boread twins Calais and Zetes. The Athenians invoked his help at Artemisium (480 BCE) in light of his Athenian-bride connection — Herodotus 7.189 records the prayer and the storm that wrecked the Persian fleet as the answer. The Tower of the Winds in classical-Hellenistic Athens depicts him as winged bearded man among the eight personified winds.
Children
Domains
- north wind
- winter and frost
Powers
- Sire swift offspring in horse-form
- Blow the freezing north wind
Epithets
- Βορέας north wind worshipped at Athens with an altar by the Ilissus after he wrecked the Persian fleetHerodotus 7.189 (primary)
- γαμβρὸς Ἀθηναίων 'son-in-law of the Athenians' — by his marriage to Oreithyia, basis of his Athenian cultHerodotus 7.189 (primary)
Relations
- father of: Chione the Boread (Thracian snow-nymph daughter of Boreas + Oreithyia; sister of Cleopatra-Boread, Calais, and Zetes; mother of Eumolpus by Poseidon. Not registered as standalone entry per the registry's convention against registering nymph-class beings.) · GreekApollod. 3.15.2; Paus. 3.15.1 (primary)
- sibling: Zephyrus, Notus, Eurus · GreekHes. Theog. 378-380 (primary)
- lover: OreithyiaCarried off Oreithyia from the banks of the Ilissus near Athens. The abduction the historical Athenians invoked at Artemisium (480 BCE) per Herodotus 7.189 — when the Boreas-prayer reportedly raised the storm that wrecked the Persian fleet.Apollod. 3.15.2; Pl. Phdr. 229b-d (primary)
- father of: CalaisApollod. 1.9.21, 3.15.2; Apollon. 1.211-223 (primary)
- father of: ZetesApollod. 1.9.21, 3.15.2; Apollon. 1.211-223 (primary)
- father of: CleopatraApollod. 3.15.2; Paus. 3.15.1; Diod. 4.43.3 (primary)
- counterpart of: BoreasTradition-specific counterpart; this link does not transfer parentage.Orphic Hymns 79 (Taylor; modern 80) (primary)