Boreads
The Boreads (
(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
Family
The Boreads were the twin sons of
Mythology
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
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
See also
- Corpus vasorum antiquorum
Notes
- ^ Tzetzes, Chiliades 1.7 lines 210-213[permanent dead link] & 12.13 lines 442-443
- ^ Apollonius Rhodius, [1]
- ISBN 978-1-4381-2639-5.
- ISBN 978-0-521-76989-1.
- ISBN 978-0-8156-2825-5.
- ^ Phanocles, The Death of Orpheus
- ^ Tzetzes, Chiliades 1.7 line 217[permanent dead link]
- ^ Tzetzes, Chiliades 1.7 lines 218-227[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 978-1-4231-1339-3.
- ISBN 978-1-4231-4673-5.
References
- Apollodorus, Bibliotheke I, ix, 21; III, xv, 2.
- Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Tzetzes, John, Book of Histories, Book I translated by Ana Untila from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com