Astraeus

For the airline, see Astraeus Airlines. For the genus of earthstars, see Astraeus (fungus). For the genus of beetles, see Astraeus (beetle).

In Greek mythology, Astraeus/Astraios /əˈstrəs/ (Greek: Ἀστραῖος) was an astrological deity and the Titan-god of the dusk. Some also associate him with the winds, as he is the father of the four Anemoi/wind deities.

In Hesiod's Theogony and in the Bibliotheca, Astraeus is a second-generation Titan, descended from Crius and Eurybia.[1] However, Hyginus wrote that he was descended directly from Tartarus and Gaia, and referred to him as one of the Gigantes.

Appropriately, as god of the dusk, Astraeus married Eos, goddess of the dawn. Together as nightfall and daybreak they produced many children who are associated with what occurs in the sky during twilight.

They had many sons, the four Anemoi ("Winds"): Boreas, Notus, Eurus, and Zephyrus,[2] and the five Astra Planeta ("Wandering Stars", i.e. planets): Phainon (Saturn), Phaethon (Jupiter), Pyroeis (Mars), Eosphoros/Hesperos (Venus), and Stilbon (Mercury).[3] A few sources mention one daughter, Astraea, the goddess of innocence and, sometimes, justice.[4]

He is also sometimes associated with Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds, since winds often swell up around dusk.

Notes

  1. Hesiod. The Theogony of Hesiod. Forgotten Books. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-60506-325-6.
  2. Smith, William (1859). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Little, Brown and Company. p. 389.
  3. Barney, Stephen et al., transl., ed. (2010). The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Cambridge U. Press. p. 105.
  4. Anthon, Charles (1855). A Classical Dictionary. Harper & Brothers. p. 219.


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