Editing Boreads

{{Short description|Mythological siblings}}
{{redirect-multi|2|Zetes|Zethes|other uses|Zethes (moth)|and|Zeta Psi|and|ZETES power stations}}
[[File:Calaïs et Zétès délivrent Phinée des Harpies.jpg|thumb|''Calaïs et Zétès délivrent Phinée des Harpies''
("Calais and zetes rescuing Phineus from the Harpies") by [[Bernard Picart]].]]

The '''Boreads''' ({{langx|grc|Βορεάδαι|Boreádai|sons of the north wind}}) are the two "wind brothers" in [[Greek mythology]]. They consist of '''Zetes''' (also '''Zethes''') ({{langx|grc|Ζήτης}}) and '''Calaïs''' ({{langx|grc|Κάλαϊς}}). Their place of origin was [[Thrace]], home of their father [[Boreas (god)|Boreas]] (the North wind).<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.16&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Boreas 1.9.16]</ref>

== Description ==
Zetes and Calais were credited with very delicate and graceful hair, which was said to give them the ability to fly (though in some tales they have [[wings]]). They had great [[pride]] in who had the longest curls between the two of them and by boasting about these locks, they were uplifted.<ref name=":0">[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], ''Chiliades'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.htm#7 1.7 lines 210-213]{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} & [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades12.html#13 12.13 lines 442-443]</ref> They had dusky wings which gleamed with golden scales.<ref name="Appollonius">[[Apollonius Rhodius]], [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/830]</ref>

== Family ==
The Boreads were the twin sons of [[Boreas (god)|Boreas]] and [[Oreithyia]], daughter of King [[Erechtheus]] of [[Athens]]. They were the brothers of [[Chione (daughter of Boreas)|Chione]] and [[Cleopatra (Greek myth)|Cleopatra]], wife of [[Phineus]]; king of [[Thrace]].

==Mythology==
[[Image:Phineus Boreads Louvre G364.jpg|thumb|220px|The Boreads rescuing [[Phineus]] from the [[Harpies]], column-[[krater]] by the [[Leningrad Painter]], {{circa|460 BC}}, [[Louvre]]|left]]
Due to being sons of the north wind they were supernaturally gifted in different ways (depending on changes in the story from being passed down through generations and cultures) either being as fast as the wind or able to fly, having wings either on their feet or backs, depending on the myth.<ref name=Appollonius/>{{rp|I, 211–223}} According to Ovid's ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', their divine status showed in manhood when they sprouted wings on their backs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roman|first=Luke|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOgWfjNIxoMC|title=Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology|last2=Roman|first2=Monica|date=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2639-5|pages=104|language=en}}</ref>

They were [[Argonauts]] and played a particularly vital role in the rescue of Phineus from the [[Harpy|harpies]].<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.16&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Boreas 1.9.16]</ref> They succeeded in driving the monsters away but did not kill them, at a request from the goddess of the rainbow, [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]], who promised that Phineas would not be bothered by the harpies again. As thanks, Phineas told the Argonauts how to pass the [[Symplegades]]. It is said that the Boreads were turned back by Iris at the [[Strophades]]. The islands' name, meaning "Islands of Turning", refers to this event.<ref name=Appollonius/>{{rp|I, 240–300}}

Calais in one tradition is said to be the beloved of [[Orpheus]];<ref name="Crawford2010">{{cite book|author=Katherine Crawford|title=The Sexual Culture of the French Renaissance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z9TU7ZKzANkC&pg=PA28|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-76989-1|page=28}}</ref><ref name="Friedman2000">{{cite book|author=John Block Friedman|title=Orpheus in the Middle Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_56pgczDQ8sC&pg=PA9|date=2000-05-01|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2825-5|page=9}}</ref> Orpheus was said to have been killed at the hands of jealous Thracian women whilst he wandered the countryside thinking of Calais.<ref>Phanocles, ''The Death of Orpheus''</ref>

Their death was said to be caused by [[Heracles]] on Tenos in revenge for when they convinced the Argonauts to leave him behind as he searched for [[Hylas]] in [[Mysia]].<ref name=Appollonius/>{{rp|I, 1296–1314}}

Other sources imply that the sons of Boreas died chasing the harpies, as it was fated that they would perish if they failed to catch those they pursued.<ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.htm#7 1.7 line 217]{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In some versions, the harpies drop into the sea from exhaustion and so their pursuers fall as well.

According to a rare variant of the myth by [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], the old man Phineus who was blind because of old age had two daughters named [[Eraseia]] and [[Harpyreia]]. These two lived in a very libertine and lazy life which was all wasted. Ultimately, the sisters abandoned themselves into poverty and fatal famine and were eventually snatched away by Zetes and Calais, disappearing from those places ever since.<ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.htm#7 1.7 lines 218-227]{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Calais traditionally founded Cales in [[Campania]].
==See also==
* [[Corpus vasorum antiquorum]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{Commons category|Boreads}}
{{EB1911 Poster|Calaïs and Zetes}}

* Apollodorus, [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheke]] I, ix, 21; III, xv, 2.
*[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes, John]], ''Book of Histories,'' Book I translated by Ana Untila from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html Online version at theio.com]

[[Category:Argonauts]]
[[Category:Demigods in classical mythology]]
[[Category:Characters in the Argonautica]]
[[Category:Mythological Thracians]]
[[Category:Brother duos]]
[[Category:Avian humanoids]]
[[Category:Mythological duos]]
[[Category:Children of Boreas (god)]]
[[Category:LGBTQ themes in Greek mythology]]