Editing Zephyrus (section)

=== West Wind ===
[[File:The relief panels on the frieze of the Tower of the Winds. The wind god Zephyrus.jpg|thumb|left|Zephyrus relief from the [[Tower of the Winds]], [[Athens]].|upright=1.15]]

Zephyrus, along with his brother Boreas, is one of the most prominent of the Anemoi; they are frequently mentioned together by poets, and along with a third brother, [[Notus]] (the south wind) they were seen as the three useful and favourable winds (the east wind, Eurus, seen as bad omen).<ref name=":brill" /> They are the three wind gods mentioned by [[Hesiod]], as ancient Greeks avoided talking about Eurus.{{sfn|Kerenyi|1951|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7346/page/n231/mode/2up?view=theater 205]}} Zephyrus and Boreas were thought to dwell together in a palace in [[Thrace]].{{sfn|Smith|1873|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DZ%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dzephyrus-bio-1 Zephyrus]}}

In the ''[[Odyssey]]'' however, they all seem to dwell on the island of [[Aeolia (mythical island)|Aeolia]], as [[Zeus]] has tasked [[Aeolus (son of Hippotes)|Aeolus]] with the job of the keeper of the winds.{{sfn|Myrsiades|2019|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2bcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT104 104]}} Aeolus receives [[Odysseus]] and his wretched crew, and hosts them for a month gracefully.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D1 1–45]</ref> As they part, Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag containing all the winds, except for Zephyrus himself, who is let free to blow Odysseus's ship gently back to [[Homer's Ithaca|Ithaca]]; Odysseus's crewmates foolishly open the bag, thinking it to contain treasure, and set free all the other winds, blowing the ships back to Aeolia.{{sfn|Myrsiades|2019|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2bcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT104 104]}} Many years later, right after Odysseus left [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]], the sea-god [[Poseidon]] in rage unleashed all four of them to cause a storm and raise great waves in order to drown Odysseus in the sea.{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA100 100]}}

[[File:Rutxhiel_Zéphyr_et_Psyché.jpg|thumb|''Zéphyr rapting Psyché'', 1814 by [[Henri-Joseph Ruxthiel]].|240px]]

In the ''[[Iliad]]'', Zephyrus is visited by his wife Iris in his home as he dines with his wind brothers. He wishes to summon him and Boreas to blow on [[Patroclus]]'s funeral pyre following his death, as Achilles prayed for their help when the pyre failed to kindle.<ref>[[Homer]], the ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D23%3Acard%3D192 23.192–225]</ref>{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA48 48]}} In the ''[[Dionysiaca]]'', all four live together with their father Astraeus; Zephyrus plays sweet notes with an [[aulos]] for Demeter when she pays them a visit.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/216/mode/2up?view=theater 6.28]</ref>

In the myth of [[Cupid and Psyche|Eros and Psyche]], Zephyrus serves [[Eros]], the god of love, by transporting his bride-to-be, the mortal princess [[Psyche (mythology)|Psyche]] with his soft breeze from the cliff (where she had been left in an oracle's suggestion) to Eros's palace.{{sfn|Kenney|1990|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bFNK7qX7l9QC&pg=PA49 49]}} Later, he also helps rather reluctantly Psyche's two sisters transport the same way to the palace as well, when Psyche wishes to see them again.{{sfn|Kenney|1990|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bFNK7qX7l9QC&pg=PA57 57]}} After Eros abandons Psyche over her betrayal, both sisters take advantage of the situation and each independently goes to the cliff (having both been lied to by Psyche that Eros wished to maker her his new wife), calling for Eros to make them his bride, and Zephyrus to take them to the palace. But this time Zephyrus does not act when they jump, and thus they both fall to their deaths, torn limb to limb and made food for the birds of prey and wild beasts below.{{sfn|Kenney|1990|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bFNK7qX7l9QC&pg=PA81 81–83]}}

Zephyrus seems to have had a connection to swans; in [[Philostratus the Elder]]'s works, he joins them twice in their song, once while they are carrying the [[Erotes]] and another when the young [[Phaethon]] is killed driving his father [[Helios]]'s fiery chariot.{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tOgWfjNIxoMC&pg=PT533 521]}}{{sfn|Ferrari|2008|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oXbG_4TRs8QC&pg=PA58 58]}} This apparently symbolizes the belief that swans took to singing when the mild west wind blew.<ref>{{cite book | title = Poetica | volume = 3-6 | publisher = Sanseido International | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4TlJAAAAYAAJ | page = 51 | date = 1975}}</ref>