Aeolus
Keeper of the winds, appointed by Zeus to control the Anemoi from his floating island of Aeolia.
The Myth of Aeolus
He gave Odysseus all the adverse winds tied up in a bag — and Odysseus's own crew opened it within sight of home. Aeolus hosted Odysseus for a month and gave him an ox-hide bag containing every wind except the favorable west wind Zephyrus. The fleet sailed for nine days and came within sight of Ithaca. While Odysseus slept, his crew opened the bag thinking it contained gold. The winds burst out and blew them all the way back to Aeolia. Aeolus refused to help again, calling Odysseus cursed by the gods. This is arguably the cruelest near-miss in the Odyssey — home was visible when everything went wrong. Aeolus later married his sons to his daughters.
Parents
Hippotes
Symbols
Fun Fact
An Aeolian harp is a stringed instrument played by the wind — named for this keeper of the winds.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Aeolus
⚡ godKeeper of the winds
Aeolus kept winds in a leather bag on his floating island.
Notus
⚡ godwind
God of the south wind, bringer of late summer storms and the hot, damp winds feared by sailors and farmers.
Eurus
⚡ godwind
God of the east wind, the only one of the four Anemoi not given a specific seasonal role by Hesiod.
Boreas
⚡ godGod of the north wind
Boreas was the god of the cold north wind, bringer of winter.
Zephyrus
⚡ godGod of the west wind
Zephyrus was the god of the gentle west wind, bringer of spring.
Venti
🐉 creaturepersonifications
The four wind gods — Boreas, Notus, Eurus, and Zephyrus — each ruling a cardinal direction
Poseidon
⚡ godGod of the sea, earthquakes, horses
Lord of the seas and brother of Zeus. Poseidon's moods shaped the oceans — calm seas for those who pleased him, devastating storms for those who did not.
Poseidon
⚡ godGod of the sea, earthquakes, and horses
Poseidon was the god of the sea and earthquakes whose moods determined whether sailors lived or died — and whose grudge against Odysseus drove the Odyssey.
Harpies
🐉 creaturestorm winds, punishment
Winged spirits who snatched away the living and defiled food with their filth, serving as agents of divine punishment.
Kaikias
⚡ godWind, northeast
God of the northeast wind associated with cold weather and hailstorms in the Greek wind system
Aparctias
⚡ godWind, north
Alternative name for the god of the true north wind, sometimes distinguished from Boreas as a calmer northern breeze
Apeliotes
⚡ godWind, east
God of the east wind who brought warm rain beneficial to crops and was considered a gentle and favourable deity