Boreads

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Calaïs et Zétès délivrent Phinée des Harpies by Bernard Picart

The Boreads (

Ancient Greek: Κάλαϊς). Their place of origin was Thrace, home of their father Boreas
(North wind).

Description

Zetes and Calais were credited with very delicate and graceful hair, which was said to give them the ability to fly (though in some tales they have

wings). They had great pride in who had the longest curls between the two of them and by boasting about these locks, they were uplifted.[1] They had dusky wings which gleamed with golden scales.[2]

Family

The Boreads were the twin sons of

Oreithyia, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens. They were the brothers of Chione and Cleopatra, wife of Phineus; king of Thrace
.

Mythology

Harpies, column-krater by the Leningrad Painter, c. 460 BC, Louvre

Due to being sons of the north wind they were supernaturally gifted in different ways (depending on changes in the story from being passed down through generations and cultures) either being as fast as the wind or able to fly, having wings either on their feet or backs, depending on the myth.[2]: I, 211–223  According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, their divine status showed in manhood when they sprouted wings on their backs.[3]

They were

Strophades. The islands' name, meaning "Islands of Turning", refers to this event.[2]
: I, 240–300 

Calais in one tradition is said to be the beloved of Orpheus;[4][5] Orpheus was said to have been killed at the hands of jealous Thracian women whilst he wandered the countryside thinking of Calais.[6]

Their death was said to be caused by Heracles on Tenos in revenge for when they convinced the Argonauts to leave him behind as he searched for Hylas in Mysia.[2]: I, 1296–1314 

Other sources imply that the sons of Boreas died chasing the harpies, as it was fated that they would perish if they failed to catch those they pursued.[7] In some versions, the harpies drop into the sea from exhaustion and so their pursuers fall as well.

According to a rare variant of the myth by Tzetzes, the old man Phineus who was blind because of old age had two daughters named Eraseia and Harpyreia. These two lived in a very libertine and lazy life which was all wasted. Ultimately, the sisters abandoned themselves into poverty and fatal famine and were eventually snatched away by Zetes and Calais, disappearing from those places ever since.[8]

Calais traditionally founded Cales in Campania.

Popular culture

The Boreads appear in

Gaea.[10]

See also

  • Corpus vasorum antiquorum

Notes

References