Lips
God of the southwest wind associated with warm weather and favourable sailing conditions from Libya
The Myth of Lips
Lips was the divine personification of the southwest wind in Greek religion, blowing from the direction of Libya and the African coast. He was generally considered a warm and light wind, less violent than the northern gales, and often favourable for sailing northward through the central Mediterranean. On the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Lips is depicted as a young man holding the ornament of a ship's stern, an aphlaston, symbolising his connection to maritime navigation and the favourable conditions he provided for seafarers. The southwest wind carried warm African air into Greece, and while it could bring oppressive heat in summer, it was generally welcome as a gentler alternative to the fierce northern or eastern winds. Lips was one of the eight Anemoi worshipped in the Athenian system, each with distinct personality and meteorological significance in the daily life of the Greek world.
Parents
Eos and Astraeus
Symbols
Fun Fact
On the Tower of the Winds, Lips holds the stern ornament of a ship, marking him as the wind most favourable to Mediterranean sailors
Explore Further
Libonotus
⚡ godWind, south-southwest
God of the south-southwest wind blowing from the direction of Libya, bringing warm air and occasional sandstorms
Euronotus
⚡ godWind, south-southeast
God of the south-southeast wind that brought warm humid air from the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt
Argestes
⚡ godWind, west-northwest
God of the west-northwest wind whose name means clearing or brightening, associated with fair weather after storms
Apeliotes
⚡ godWind, east
God of the east wind who brought warm rain beneficial to crops and was considered a gentle and favourable deity
Skiron
⚡ godWind, northwest
God of the northwest wind associated with the onset of winter and the cold dry air from the Adriatic
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
Notus
⚡ godwind
God of the south wind, bringer of late summer storms and the hot, damp winds feared by sailors and farmers.
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
Eurus
⚡ godwind
God of the east wind, the only one of the four Anemoi not given a specific seasonal role by Hesiod.
Zephyr
💭 conceptLanguage and meteorology
An English word meaning a gentle, mild breeze, derived from Zephyrus, the Greek god of the west wind who represented the mildest and most pleasant of the four directional winds