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Boreas, a MythSource painting
Greek

Boreas

The North Wind · The Winter Wind · The Winged Wind

01Identity

Boreas in Greek tradition

Blackening the sky with his cape, Boreas drove freezing gales from the north and carried them far into southern lands. He is a Greek deity of the north wind, winter, storms, sailing, and Athens’s protection, shown with wings, a billowing cloak, and shaggy hair. Unlike the Roman Aquilo, whose name is the Latin name for the north wind, Boreas belongs to the Greek tradition and is also associated with violent cold and destructive weather.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Boreas?

    Boreas is a Greek deity associated with the north wind; winter and cold; storms and violent weather; sailing and sea travel; and the protection of Athens.
    Source

    Source

    • The Greek Myths
    • Dictionary of Mythology
    • Bullfinch Mythology - The Age of Fable

  • What is Boreas the god of?

    Boreas is associated with the north wind; winter and cold; storms and violent weather; sailing and sea travel; and the protection of Athens.
    Source

    Source

    • The Greek Myths

  • What family links are recorded for Boreas?

    Father: Astraeus, Mother: Eos, Spouse: Orithyia, 12 children, 3 siblings.
02Family

Boreas’s family, at a glance

AstraeusEos
BoreasEurosNotusZephyrus

with Orithyia

AuraAuraiBoreadsButesCalaisChioneCleopatraHaemus
HekaergeHyrpaxLoxoZetes
03The names

The names Boreas answers to

Aparctias

A Greek name for the north wind

SourceDictionary of Mythology

Meses

A Greek name associated with the north or north-northeast wind

SourceThe Greek Myths

Hyperboreas

The wind from beyond the northern lands

SourceDictionary of Mythology

Aquilo

The Latin name for the north wind

SourceBullfinch Mythology - The Age of Fable

04The myths

The myths of Boreas

2 myths, with sources recorded for each.

Boreas's Jealous Blow at Hyacinthus

Apollo pursued a peaceful life as a shepherd and formed a strong friendship with the youth Hyacinthus. He showed Hyacinthus great favour and became his lover. Boreas, the North Wind, also sought Hyacinthus’s affection. When Hyacinthus favoured Apollo, Boreas grew jealous.

Apollo and Hyacinthus threw a discus together. Apollo cast it with great force. Boreas blew the discus from its course and sent it towards Hyacinthus. It struck the youth and killed him. In another telling, Boreas did not interfere. Hyacinthus ran eagerly to retrieve the discus that Apollo threw, and it struck him on the head. He died on the spot.

Apollo was overcome with grief. He could not restore Hyacinthus to life. In the telling where the discus struck him during their game, Apollo blamed himself for the youth’s death. He mourned his young favourite and lamented that Hyacinthus had been taken in the prime of youth. He grieved that his own hand had caused the death, though he had only played with and loved Hyacinthus.

One telling made Hyacinthus the son of Cleio and Pieros. It also said that Thamyris first desired him, before Hyacinthus became Apollo’s lover. Apollo then changed Hyacinthus into the flower called the hyacinth.

Boreas's Jealous Blow at Hyacinthus, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Apollo loved Hyacinthus, son of Amyclas, and accidentally killed him with a discus, then changed him into the flower that bears his name.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

  3. 3Greek Myths & TalesT1

Boreas Carries Off Oreithyia

Oreithyia, daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, and Praxithea, was dancing beside the river Ilissus when Boreas seized her. He was the son of Astraeus and Eos, and the brother of the South and West Winds. After wrapping himself in dark clouds, he carried Oreithyia to a rock near the river Ergines and assaulted her. He had long sought her hand, but Erechtheus had delayed him with empty promises. Boreas then abandoned persuasion and used the violence associated with his wind.

Another account places the abduction on the Acropolis. Oreithyia was carrying a basket in the annual Thesmophorian procession towards the temple of Athene Polias when Boreas hid her beneath his tawny wings and carried her away unseen by the crowd. He flew with her to the land and city of the Thracian Cicones, where she became his wife.

Oreithyia bore Boreas four children: the sons Zetes and Calaïs, and the daughters Cleopatra and Chione. Zetes and Calaïs later grew wings when they reached manhood. A different account says that the boys resembled their mother in every way except for their wings, which they received from their father. Golding's translation of Ovid adds that they were not born with wings, leaving their time of acquiring them as a point of variation.

Boreas Carries Off Oreithyia, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Ovid, MetamorphosesT1

    Quote

    “Boreas carried off Oreithyia, daughter of Erechtheus, and fathered by her the winged sons Zetes and Calaïs, and the daughters Cleopatra and Chione.”

    Ovid, Metamorphoses

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

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Boreas, each on that figure’s page.