Oreithyia

The week started off with heavy fog and early morning rain drops.  Then the strong north winds have been with us since Tuesday, consistently making us feel like summer was ending.  Boreas!  It has to be him! 

This sublime painting of Oreithyia, mesmerizes me.  She was abducted by the Greek god Boreas, of the North Wind who lived in Thrace.  He is depicted as being winged, extremely strong, bearded and normally clad in a short pleated tunic so if you see a muscular man in a short dress, well know that he is the son of Eos and Astraeus, and the brother of Zephyrus, Eurus and Notus.. and hide for cover!

''Boreas has two sons, two daughters and twelve mares which can race over the ground without destroying the grain. When the Persian navy of Xerxes threatened the city of Athens, the Athenians begged his assistance. The Great Wind of the Wintery North blew his anger at the Persians and 400 Persian ships sank immediately. Among other violent acts he abducted Oreithyia, the daughter of the king of Athens, when she was playing on the banks of the Ilissus. In Latin, he is called Aquilo.''

pantheon.org

Neo-Classicist John William Waterhouse (1849 – 1917) created lavish works imbued with lifelike details and an otherworldly, haunting sensuality. Born in Italy and raised in Britain, Waterhouse merged Victorian narrative with romantic Pre-Raphaelite fantasy in his work, drawing inspiration from Greek myths, Shakespeare, Arthurian legends, Homer, Tennyson and Keats. A member of the Royal Academy, Waterhouse often painted dramatic scenes emphasizing powerful or tragic women. He created more than 200 paintings, and was one of the few artists to attain fame and fortune in his lifetime.