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Aurora, a MythSource painting
Roman

Aurora

The Dawn-Bringer · Rosy-Fingered · Saffron-Robed

01Identity

Aurora in Roman tradition

At the close of night, Aurora rises and brings the morning light, renewing the day. She is a Roman deity of dawn who rides a winged chariot with horses and is associated with a torch and roses. Her Greek counterpart is Eos, who likewise announces the sun’s approach and may be linked with twilight. Aurora’s role concerns the transition from night to day, rather than the sun’s own journey.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Aurora?

    Aurora is a Roman deity associated with dawn and daybreak; morning light; the transition from night to day; and the renewal of each day.
    Source

    Source

    • Tales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome
    • Greek Myths & Tales
    • Greek Mythology and Poetics
    • Classical Mythology a to Z

  • What is Aurora the goddess of?

    Aurora is associated with dawn and daybreak; morning light; the transition from night to day; and the renewal of each day.
    Source

    Source

    • Tales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome
    • Greek Myths & Tales
    • Greek Mythology and Poetics

  • What family links are recorded for Aurora?

    Father: Hyperion, Mother: Theia, 4 children, 2 siblings.
02Family

Aurora’s family, at a glance

HyperionTheia
AuroraLunaSol
AquilonAusterFavoniusVolturnus
03The names

The names Aurora answers to

Dawn Goddess

Goddess who personifies the dawn

SourceTales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome

Rosy-Fingered Dawn

Dawn with rose-coloured rays

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

Saffron-Robed Dawn

Dawn clothed in golden-yellow light

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

04The myths

The myths of Aurora

2 myths, with sources recorded for each.

Aurora Mourns Memnon

Achilles killed Memnon with his spear during the war at Troy. Memnon, the son of Tithonos and Dawn, had arrived with a large Ethiopian force to fight the Greeks. He had killed many of them, including Antilochos, before he met Achilles in battle. He had fought bravely to help his uncle, but Achilles struck him down in the flower of his life.

Aurora mourned her son and went to Zeus, king of the gods. She asked him to grant Memnon honour as comfort for his death and relief for her grief. Zeus granted her request. At once, the flame that burned Memnon's body fell, and rolling flakes of smoke darkened the day. The smoke rose like mist from a river or marsh and blocked the sunlight. The fire consumed Memnon, and his ashes remained.

From those ashes, sudden birds arose. They became the Memnonides, which people called Memnon's birds. Each year, a flock returned to Memnon's tomb. Two birds fought over the grave until both fell dead. Their bodies formed an offering for their dead kinsman, Memnon, whose ashes lay there.

Aurora continued to mourn him. She shed tears across the whole world, and her tears became the morning dew.

Also told of Eos in the Greek tradition.

Aurora Mourns Memnon, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Shakespeare's Ovid, being Arthur Golding's translation of the MetamorphosesT1
  2. 2Ovid, MetamorphosesT1

    Quote

    “When Aurora asks Zeus to honour Memnon, his ashes give rise to birds that return each year to fight and die at his tomb, while her tears become the morning dew.”

    Ovid, Metamorphoses

  3. 3The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1

Aurora Wins Immortality for Tithonus

Eos carried Tithonus away after his beauty won her love. He was the son of Laomedon, king of Troy. She feared that death would separate them, so she went to Jupiter and begged him to grant Tithonus immortality. Jupiter accepted her request, but Eos forgot to ask for eternal youth.

Eos had once married Astraeus, and their children had included Heosphorus, the evening star, and the winds. She was also the Dawn who rose at the close of night and announced the approach of her brother Helius. After Helius appeared, she travelled with him until they reached the western shores of Ocean. Yet her love for Tithonus drew her away from the immortals and towards the fate that awaited him.

Tithonus lived as the years passed. His body grew old and decrepit. His strength failed, and the beauty that had first pleased Eos disappeared. She became disgusted with his infirmities and shut him inside a chamber. His human form faded until little remained there but his voice. It sank into a weak, feeble quaver, while his immortal life continued.

In one telling, Tithonus grew weary of his cheerless existence and begged to die. Death could not reach him, because Jupiter had granted him immortality. Eos pitied his suffering, but she could not remove the gift.

In another telling, Eos used her divine power and changed him into a cicada. His endless life continued in that form, while his old human body and suffering ended.

Also told of Eos in the Greek tradition.

Aurora Wins Immortality for Tithonus, a MythSource painting of the scene

2 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Greek Myths & TalesT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Eos asks Jupiter to make Tithonus immortal but neglects to ask for eternal youth, so he grows old and, in one version, becomes a cicada.”

    the ancient sources