Aeolus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Aeolus

14 passages from 9 ancient authors that tell of Aeolus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Aeolus ruled the winds and aided heroes on their journeys. Discover his story with the Argonauts, his role in Odysseus's voyage, and symbolism. For the story in one place, read our article on Aeolus.

Homer (2)

Homer, Odyssey 10.1–79Aeolus and the bag of windsOdysseus and his men come to the island of Aeolus, keeper of the winds, who entertains them for a month and gives Odysseus a bag in which all the winds are bound except the West Wind. They sail for nine days and are in sight of Ithaca when Odysseus falls asleep, and his men, thinking that the bag holds treasure, open it. The storm winds carry them back to Aeolus' island, and Aeolus refuses to help a man the gods hate.
Homer, Odyssey 23.288–372Odysseus tells his tale; the dawnThey go to bed, and Odysseus tells Penelope the story of his wanderings, the Cicones, the Lotus-eaters, the Cyclops, Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, Circe, Hades, the Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, the cattle of the Sun, Calypso and the Phaeacians. At dawn he tells Penelope to stay in her room and goes out to the country with Telemachus and the two herdsmen, to see his father, with Athena casting night about them.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.7.1–40The wanderings of Odysseus, the suitors and his deathOdysseus leaves Troy and meets the Cicones, the Lotus-eaters and Polyphemus the Cyclops, then Aeolus, the Laestrygonians and Circe. After the visit to Hades, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis and the cattle of the Sun, he reaches Calypso and then the Phaeacians and Ithaca, where the suitors are named and killed. The section ends with his later life among the Thesprotians and the variant accounts of his death at the hands of Telegonus, and of Penelope's fate.

Apollonius Rhodius (1)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.685–782Circe purifies Jason and MedeaAt Aeaea Circe, daughter of Helios, purifies Jason and Medea of the murder. When she learns the whole story she drives them from her house with reproaches. Hera sends Iris to fetch Thetis and to ask Hephaestus and Aeolus to help Argo.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.6.1–5.11.4The Sicani, the Siceli and the Aeolian IslandsThe historian reports the disagreement over the origin of the Sicani and the later coming of the Siceli, before the Greek colonies. He then names the seven islands called the Aeolides, tells how Lipara was first settled and how Aeolus came to rule it, and gives the later colony from Cnidus and Rhodes, the reasons for the prosperity of Lipara, and the story of the island called Osteodes.

Ovid (3)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.221–319Macareus and CirceAchaemenides asks Macareus to tell of his own adventures, and Macareus tells of Aeolus and the Laestrygonians, and how the Greeks came to the island of Circe, and how she changed many of his shipmates into animals with her drugs. Odysseus (Ulysses), protected by a charm from Hermes (Mercury), forced her to restore his men, and they lived with her for a year. Circe shows Macareus a woodpecker and a statue of Picus, and tells him its story.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.410–572Ceyx and Alcyone: the voyageCeyx, troubled by his brother's fate and by prodigies, decides to consult the oracle at Claros, and his wife Alcyone begs him not to go by sea. He reassures her and sails, and she watches the ship until it is out of sight. A storm rises at sea, and the sailors, and even the captain, are terrified.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.688–748Iris and Sleep; Ceyx and Alcyone become birdsAlcyone prays for Ceyx, and Hera (Juno) sends Iris to the house of Sleep in a dark cave to ask him to send a dream to Alcyone. Sleep wakes his son Morpheus, who takes the form of Ceyx and tells Alcyone that her husband is dead. Alcyone goes to the shore, sees his body, and throws herself toward it, and the gods change both into birds, and Aeolus calms the winds for seven days each year so that she may brood.

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.20.1–5Tanagra: Poemander, Corinna, the tomb of Orion, Hermes and the Triton of DionysusPausanias gives the Tanagrans' account of their founder Poemander and of the city's name, which came from Tanagra, also called Graea, a daughter of Aeolus or of Asopus. He mentions the tomb of Orion, Mount Cerycius, where Hermes was born, and the place called Polus. In the temple of Dionysus he describes the image by Calamis and the headless Triton, killed either in a fight with Dionysus or when he was lured by a bowl of wine.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.665–787The pyre of AchillesAt dawn the Argives raise a great pyre, and Achilles is burned with the horses and men slain round it. His companions gather his bones into a silver casket, which the Nereids anoint and lay in a golden vase given by Thetis, and the Argives heap a barrow by the Hellespont. His immortal horses mourn him, and Poseidon rises from the sea to console Thetis.

Nonnus of Panopolis (3)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 23.162–224Book 23: Hydaspes calls on his brother riversHydaspes calls on a brother river and on Aiolos to help him punish Dionysos, who has made the river a highway for chariots. He rises in a great wave that sweeps away the Bacchants, Maron and the Satyrs' gear, more furiously than Simoeis and Camandros once attacked Achilles.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 39.0–129Book 39: The fleet arrives; Deriades and Dionysos address their menThe ships built by the Rhadamanes arrive, and Deriades, alarmed but defiant, calls up a fleet from his islands. He argues that Dionysos is no god, since a son of Zeus would not fight with leaves and fawnskin. Dionysos answers by naming his allies in the sea and among the winds, and tells his captains to attack before the Indians can use fire against the ships.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 47.256–363Book 47: Dionysos finds Ariadne asleep on NaxosZeus's gift of the stars is given as the true account, and Dionysos goes to Naxos, where Theseus has just abandoned the sleeping Ariadne. Dionysos, mistaking her for a goddess, calls on the Bacchants to hush their music. Ariadne wakes to find no ship and no husband, and cries out against Theseus and the winds.

Parthenius of Nicaea (1)

Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances 1.1–2.3Lyrcus and Hemithea; Odysseus and PolymelaLyrcus, sent to look for the captured Io, settles at Caunus and marries Hilebia. On his way home from the oracle at Didyma, Staphylus makes him drunk and unites him with his daughter Hemithea, and Lyrcus leaves her his belt as a token for their child. Odysseus, a guest of King Aeolus, falls in love with Aeolus' daughter Polymela, and when Aeolus learns of it her brother Diores begs her off and takes her as his wife.