| Aura | |
|---|---|
Goddess of the Breeze | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:NAMA-Aura_Asklepios_temple.jpg) Aura riding a horse by Timotheus, National Archaeological Museum, Athens. | |
| Greek | Αὔρα |
| Abode | Phrygia |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | |
| Consort | Dionysus |
| Children | Iacchus, unnamed son |
In Greek and Roman mythology, Aura (Greek: Αὔρα, translit. Aúra, lit. "breeze" pronounced [ǎu̯raː], or Αὔρη pronounced [ǎu̯rɛː]) is a minor wind goddess, whose name means "breeze".[1] The plural form, Aurae (Greek: Αὔραι) is sometimes found to describe a group of breeze nymphs. According to the late antiquity writer Nonnus, Aura is the daughter of the Titan Lelantos and the mother, by Dionysus, of Iacchus, a minor deity connected with the Eleusinian mysteries, while Quintus Smyrnaeus makes the Aurae daughters of Boreas, the god of the north wind.[2] Aurae was the title of a play by the Athenian comic poet Metagenes, who was contemporary with Aristophanes, Phrynichus, and Plato.[3]
- ^ For a discussion of literary sources, see Canciani, p. 52.
- ^ Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy 1.684.
- ^ Canciani, p. 52; Smith, s.v. Metagenes; Suda s.v. Metagenes.