Oreithyia

hero

Ὠρείθυια

abduction

Athenian princess abducted by the North Wind Boreas, mother of the winged Argonauts Zetes and Calais.

The Myth

The North Wind fell in love and simply blew her away — literally sweeping her off the banks of the Ilissus river. Oreithyia was a daughter of the Athenian king Erechtheus. Boreas courted her politely and was rejected. Losing patience, the wind god swept down on her while she was dancing by the river Ilissus, wrapped her in a cloud, and carried her to Thrace. She bore him the winged sons Zetes and Calais, who joined the Argonauts, and a daughter Cleopatra who married Phineus. The Athenians prayed to Boreas as a son-in-law during the Persian Wars — and credited him with destroying part of the Persian fleet. Plato has Socrates discuss the myth's literal truth while walking along the Ilissus.

Parents

Erechtheus

Children

Zetes, Calais, Cleopatra

Symbols

cloudnorth windriver bank

Fun Fact

Athens officially adopted Boreas as an ally after he allegedly wrecked the Persian fleet — they built him a temple on the Ilissus.

Explore Further

Zetes and Calais

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Winged sons of Boreas who joined the Argonauts and chased the Harpies away from the blind prophet...

Erechtheus

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Legendary king of Athens who sacrificed his own daughter to win a war and was killed by Poseidon's...

Phineus (Prophet)

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A blind Thracian king and prophet punished by Zeus for revealing divine secrets, tormented by...

Phineus the Seer

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Blind Thracian king and prophet cursed by Zeus to have his food snatched by Harpies until the...

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place

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Argonauts

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Athens

place

Athens was the city sacred to Athena, birthplace of democracy, philosophy, drama, and Western...

Boreas

god

Boreas was the god of the cold north wind, bringer of winter.

Thrace

place

Thrace was the vast, wild region north of Greece — homeland of Ares, Orpheus, the Maenads, and the...

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First human murderer of kin, who attempted to seduce Hera and was bound to an eternally spinning...

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Son of King Aeetes of Colchis, murdered and dismembered by his sister Medea to slow their father's...