In Greek mythology, Astraeus () or Astraios ([Hard, p. 48.]) is the son of Crius and Eurybia, and the consort of Eos. He is said to be the father of the Anemoi.
Etymology
His name "Astraeus" (
Ancient Greek Ἀστραῖος, translit.
Astraîos) is derived from the Greek word ἀστήρ (
astḗr) "star". Ἀστήρ itself is inherited from the Proto-Indo-European root
*h₂ster- "star", from
*h₂eh₁s- "to burn".
[Beekes, pp. 156–157.]
Mythology
According to
Hesiod's
Theogony and the
Bibliotheca, Astraeus is one of the children of
Crius and Eurybia.
However, Hyginus wrote that he was descended directly from
Tartarus and Gaia and referred to him as one of the Gigantes. Servius, perhaps conflating him with the Giant like Hyginus did, wrote that he took arms and fought against the gods.
[Servius, On Virgil's Aeneid 1.132]
Astraeus married Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Together as nightfall and daybreak, they produced many children associated with what occurs in the sky during twilight.
In Hesiod's Theogony, Astraeus and Eos produce the winds—namely Zephyrus, Boreas, and Notus, with the fourth one, Eurus, being included as his son in later sources—as well as Eosphorus and the stars.[Smith, s.v. Astraeus; Hesiod, Theogony 378–82.][Nonnus, Dionysiaca 6.1– 6.105] A few sources mention another daughter, Astraea, the goddess of innocence and, occasionally, justice.
He is also sometimes associated with Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds, since winds often increase around dusk.
In Nonnus's epic poem Dionysiaca, Astraeus is presented as an oracular god whom the goddess Demeter visits, concerned about her daughter Persephone's future as she had started to attract a significant number of admirers on Mount Olympus and worried that she might end up marrying Hephaestus. Astraeus then warned her that soon enough, Persephone would be ravished by a Zeus and bear Zagreus from that union, which greatly upset Demeter.
Family tree
Notes
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Beekes, Robert S. P., Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Leiden, Brill, 2009. . Internet Archive.
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Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004. . Google Books.
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Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Hyginus, Gaius Julius, De astronomia, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. Online version at ToposText.
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Nonnus, Dionysiaca; translated by Rouse, W H D, I Books I-XV. Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. Internet Archive.
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Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
