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Greek gods of the winds
#1
As I have almost no reference books on Greece, I'm finding it hard to be sure that Eurus was the Greek god of the east wind. He's not mentioned in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, and I don't want to rely on dubious websites/Wiki.

A simple yes or no would be great. Thanks!
Ben Kane, bestselling author of the Eagles of Rome, Spartacus and Hannibal novels.

Eagles in the Storm released in UK on March 23, 2017.
Aguilas en la tormenta saldra en 2017.


www.benkane.net
Twitter: @benkaneauthor
Facebook: facebook.com/benkanebooks
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#2
Here is a list of wind gods that I could find but Greek mythology is not a subject I know much about. You probably already have the same list but maybe it is of some help?

Aeolus (Aiolos) _ King of the winds.

Anemoi _ Gods of the winds.

Aura _ Goddess of the breeze.

Aurai _ Nymphs of the cooling breeze.

Boreas _ God of the north wind & of winter.

Eurus _ God of the unlucky east wind.

Notus _ God of the south wind.

Zephyrus _ God of the west wind.

The Harpies _ Winged spirits of sudden, sharp gusts of wind.

Aether _ Primeval god of the upper air.??? Have also read he was God of light so not sure about that one.

Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
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#3
I'd rather not culpate myself by giving a simple yes/no answer since its not a binarily opposed problem. I will say that Euros was A god of the wind for some Greeks. His worship was cultivated at Sparta from at least the 2nd century BC and he had the epithet "saviour". Cf that to the wiki list above which has him as unlucky...how odd, amongst other things.

The problem is people talk in terms of "Greek Religion", which is frustrating...there are gigantic variations in time and space. The differences between literary and actual cult, Greek practice and Macedonian and Roman meddling are all huge.

Boreas, as the north wind, received cult in Athens but was unlucky and considered evil in Silenos. We have Notos listed as a south wind, its the Greek word for South, but the most common inscriptional deity is Lips...so you see...

Obviously you don't want depth,but I would at least also warn that post Mycenean period the winds are rarely cultivated at a state level and often have magical connotations so be careful there. There are a myriad of variations, call it Euros or Apheliotes or any other local variation and you'll basically be correct in many cases. Make sure though that the character is actually addressing the wind and not a wind god though. Even have a sacral formula like: "O East wind/Euros, saviour, valorous one, bringer of victories" or "Eastern winds whoever you may be" and you're on solid ground.
Jass
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#4
Thanks, both!
Ben Kane, bestselling author of the Eagles of Rome, Spartacus and Hannibal novels.

Eagles in the Storm released in UK on March 23, 2017.
Aguilas en la tormenta saldra en 2017.


www.benkane.net
Twitter: @benkaneauthor
Facebook: facebook.com/benkanebooks
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