Unlike the Biblical Israelites, the early Greeks maintained two separate and distinct systems of cardinal directions and winds, at least for a while.
Astral phenomena were used to define four
cardinal points:
arctos (
ἄρκτος, "bear", the
Ursa Major, for North),
anatole (
ἀνατολή, "sunrise" or
eos "dawn", East),
mesembria (
μεσημβρία, "noon", South) and
dysis (
δύσις, "sunset" or
hesperus, "evening", West).
Heraclitus, in particular, suggests that a
meridian drawn between the north (
arctos) and its opposite could be used to divide East from West.
Homer already spoke of Greeks sailing with
Ursa Major (or "Wagon"/"Wain") for orientation. The identification of the
Pole Star (at that time,
Kochab in the
Ursa Minor) as the better indicator of the North seems to have emerged a little later (it is said
Thales introduced this, probably learned from
Phoenician seafarers). Distinct from these cardinal points, the ancient Greeks had four
winds (
Anemoi). The peoples of
early Greece reportedly conceived of only two winds – the winds from the north, known as
Boreas (
Βορέας), and the winds from the south, known as
Notus (
Νότος). But two more winds –
Eurus (
Εὖρος) from the east and
Zephyrus (
Ζέφυρος) from the west – were added soon enough. The etymology of the names of the four archaic Greek winds is uncertain. Among tentative propositions is that
Boreas might come from "boros", an old variant of "oros" (
Greek for "mountains", which were to the north geographically). An alternative hypothesis is that it may come from "boros" meaning "voracious". Another is that it comes from the phrase
ἀπὸ τῆς βοῆς ("from the roar"), a reference to its violent and loud noise.
Notos probably comes from "notios" ("moist", a reference to the warm rains and storms brought from the south).
Eurus and
Zephyrus seem to come from "brightness" (q.v.
Eos) and "gloominess" ("zophos") respectively, doubtlessly a reference to
sunrise and
sunset.
Homer The archaic Greek poet
Homer (c. 800 BC) refers to the four winds by name – Boreas, Eurus, Notos, Zephyrus – in his
Odyssey, and in the
Iliad. However, at some points, Homer seems to imply two more: a northwest wind and a southwest wind. Some have taken this to imply that Homer may have had as many as eight winds. However, others remain unconvinced, and insist Homer only had a four wind-rose. Writing several centuries later,
Strabo (c. 10 BC) notes that some contemporaries took Homer's ambiguity to imply that the Homeric system may already anticipate the summer and winter distinction later made famous by
Aristotle. This refers to the fact that the "east" (sunrise) and "west" (sunset) are not stable on the horizon, but depend on the season, i.e. during the winter, the sun rises and sets a little further south than in the summer, Consequently, the Homeric system may have had
six winds – Boreas (N) and
Notos (S) on the meridian axis, and the other four on diagonals: Zephyrus (NW),
Eurus (NE),
Apeliotes (SE) and
Argestes (SW). Strabo, quoting
Posidonius notes that Homer sometimes used epithets of qualitative attributes to append
ordinal directions to the cardinal winds, e.g. as western winds bring rain, then when Homer says a "stormy Boreas" he means a different wind from a "loud Boreas" (i.e. wet north = NW, loud north = N) Nonetheless, while it seems that Homer may have realized that there were more than four winds, he did not use those epithets systematically enough to permit us to conclude that he also embraced a six- or eight-point windrose. Other classical writers, e.g.
Pliny the Elder, are adamant that Homer mentioned only four winds.
Hesiod (c. 700 BCE) in his
Theogony (c. 735) gives the four winds mythical personification as gods, the
Anemoi (
Ἄνεμοι), the children of the
Titan gods
Astraeus (stars) and
Eos (dawn). But Hesiod himself refers to only three winds by name –
Boreas,
Notos and
Zephyrus – which he called the "good winds" and the "children of the morning" (engendering a little confusion, as it might be read as they were all easterly winds – although curious that Eurus is not among them). Hesiod refers to other "bad winds", but not by name. The Greek physician
Hippocrates (c. 400 BC), in his
On Airs, Water and Places, refers to four winds, but designates them not by their Homeric names, but rather from the cardinal direction from which they blow (arctos, anatole, dusis, etc.) He does, however, recognize six geographic points – north, south and the summer and winter risings and settings – using the latter to set the boundaries for the four general winds.
Aristotle The ancient Greek philosopher
Aristotle, in his
Meteorology (c. 340 BCE), introduced a ten-to-twelve wind system. One reading of his system is that there are eight
principal winds:
Aparctias (N),
Caecias (NE),
Apeliotes (E),
Eurus (SE),
Notos (S),
Lips (SW),
Zephyrus (W) and
Argestes (NW). Aristotle then goes on to add two
half-winds,
Thrascias (NNW) and
Meses (NNE), noting that they "have no contraries". Later, however, Aristotle suggests the
Phoenicias wind for the SSE (blows locally in some places), but suggests nothing for SSW. So, seen this way, Aristotle really has an asymmetric windrose of ten winds, as two winds are effectively missing or only local. Notice that in the Aristotelean system, old Eurus is shunted from its traditional position in the cardinal East by
Apeliotes (
ἀπηλιώτης), meaning "from the Sun" or from "the heat of the Sun". Old Boreas is mentioned only as an alternative name to
Aparctias (
ἀπαρκτίας), which means "from the Bear", that is, the
Ursa Major, the
Arctic Circle. Among the new winds are the Argestes (
ἀργέστης) meaning "clearing" or "brightening", a reference to the northwest wind sweeping away clouds. Argestes's variants,
Olympias (
ὀλυμπίας) and
Sciron (
σκίρων) are local
Athenian names, a reference to
Mount Olympus and the Sciros rocks in
Megara. The remaining winds also seem to be geographical.
Caecias (
καικίας) means from Caicus, a river in
Mysia, a region northeast of the Aegean.
Lips (
λίψ) means "from
Libya", to the southwest of Greece (although an alternative theory connects it to "leibo",
λείβω, same root as
libation, meaning pouring, because this wind brought rain).
Phoenicias (
φοινικίας) comes "from
Phoenicia" (to the southeast of Greece) and
Thrascias (
θρασκίας) from
Thrace (in Aristotle's day, Thrace covered a larger area than today, including the north-northwest of Greece). Finally,
Meses (
μέσης) might simply mean "middle", presumably because it was a half-wind. The implication of reading Thrascias and Meses as half-winds, and the others as principal winds, is that this implies Aristotle's construction is asymmetric. Specifically, the half-winds would be at 22½° on either side of the North, while the principal eight would be at 45° angles from each other. However, an alternative hypothesis is that they will be more equally spaced around 30° from each other. By way of guidance, Aristotle mentions that the easterly and westerly positions are that of the
sun as seen on the horizon at dawn and at dusk at different times of the year. Using his alphabetical notation, Aristotle notes that during the
summer solstice the sun rises at Z (Caecias) and sets at E (Argestes); during the
equinox, it rises at B (Apeliotes) and sets at A (Zephyrus), and finally during the
winter solstice it rises at Δ (Eurus) and sets at Γ (Lips). So drawn on a compass rose, Aristotle's explanation yields four parallels: • (1) the "ever-visible circle", i.e. the
Arctic Circle, the boundaries of the
circumpolar stars (stars which do not set) connecting half-winds IK), • (2) the summer solstice (connecting EZ), • (3) the equinox (connecting AB) • (4) winter solstice (connecting ΓΔ). Assuming the viewer is centered at
Athens, it has been calculated that this construction would yield a symmetric compass rose with approximately 30° angles all around. If set out on a compass card, Aristotle's system could be conceived of as a twelve-wind rose with four cardinal winds (N, E, S, W), four "solstitial winds" (loosely speaking, NW, NE, SE, SW), two "polar winds" (roughly NNW, NNE) and two "non-winds" (SSW, SSE). Aristotle explicitly groups Aparctias (N) and the half-winds Thrascias (NNW) and Meses (NNE) together as "north winds" and Argestes (NW) and Zephyrus (W) together as "west winds" — but he goes on to note that both the north and west winds could be classified as "generally northerly" (
Boreae), since they all tend to be cold. Similarly Lips (SW) and Notos (S) are "south winds" and Eurus (SE) and Apeliotes (E) are "east winds", but once again, both south and east winds are "generally southerly" (
Notiae) because are all relatively warm (Aristotle reasons that as the sun rises in the east, then it heats east winds longer than west winds). With this general classification, Aristotle manages to account for the archaic Greek two-wind system. The exception to this system is Caecias (NE), which Aristotle notes is "half north and half east", and thus neither generally northern nor generally southern. The local Phoenicias (SSE), is also designated as "half south and half east". Aristotle goes on to discuss the
meteorological properties of the winds, e.g. that the winds on the NW-SE axis are generally dry, while the NE-SW winds are wet (NE producing heavier clouds than SW). N and NNE bring snow. Winds from the whole northwestern sector (NW, NNW, N) are described as cold, strong, cloud-clearing winds that can bring lightning and hurricanes with them. Aristotle also makes special note of the periodic bending summer
Etesian winds, which comes from different directions depending on where the observer lives. Aristotle had aggrandized the wind system beyond Homer to ten winds, but he left it unbalanced. It would be left to subsequent geographers to either add two more winds (to SSW and SSE) to make it into a symmetric 12-wind compass (as
Timosthenes would do), or subtract two winds (NNW and NNE) to make it into a symmetric 8-wind compass (as
Eratosthenes would do).
Theophrastus Theophrastus of Eresos, Aristotle's successor in the
Peripatetic school, in his
On Weather Signs and "On Winds" (c. 300 BCE), adopted the same wind system as Aristotle, with only some slight differences, e.g. Theophrastus misspelled Thrascias as "Thracias" and seemed to distinguish between Apractias and Boreas (perhaps as "
North by west" and "North" wind respectively). In the
pseudo-Aristotelean fragment
Ventorum Situs (often attributed to
Theophrastus), there is an attempt to derive the
etymology of the winds. As they are often named after a particular locality from where they seem to blow, different places in the Hellenistic world have come up with variant local names for the winds. In the list given in the
Ventorum Situs: • Boreas (N) is given the variant "Pagreus" in
Mallus; no mention of Aparctias. • Meses (NNE) is given the variant "Caunias" in
Rhodes and "Idyreus" in
Pamphylia; • Caecias (NE) is called "Thebanas" in
Lesbos, in some localities also called Boreas and Caunias. • Apeliotes (E) is called "Potameus" in
Tripoli (
Phoenicia), "Syriandus" in the
Gulf of Issus, "Marseus" in
Tripoli (Libya), "Hellespontias" in
Euboea,
Crete,
Proconnesus,
Teos and
Cyrene, "Berecyntias" in
Sinope, and "Cataporthmias" in
Sicily. • Eurus (SE) is called "Scopelus" in
Aegae and "Carbas" in
Cyrene. Makes note that some also call it "Phonecias". • Phonecias (SSE) is not mentioned by its old name but rather as
Orthonotos, a new name which can be translated as the "true south wind". • Notos (S) is said to be derived from "unhealthy" and "damp". • Previously unnamed (SSW) is given a name for perhaps the first time, as
Leuconotos, on account that it is a "sky-clearing" south wind, • Lips (SW) is said to get its name from
Libya, • Zephyrus (W) is left unexplained, • Argestes (NW) is cited by a new variant
Iapyx (unexplained here; although in other writings, the name is connected to
Iapyges in
Apulia); it is also called "Scylletinus" in
Tarentum, and elsewhere as "Pharangites" for
Mount Pangaeus; • Thrakias (NNW – note different spelling) is given the local variants "Strymonias" (in
Thrace), "Sciron" (in
Megaris), "Circias" (in
Italy and
Sicily, which later works will tie to the
Mistral) and "Olympias" (in
Euboea,
Lesbos) (note: Aristotle gave Olympias as the variant of Argestes (NW)).
Timosthenes The Greek-Roman physician
Agathemerus (c. 250 CE), in his
Geographia, gives the eight principal winds. But Agathemerus goes on to note that nearly five hundred years earlier, the navigator
Timosthenes of
Rhodes (c. 282 BCE) had developed a system of 12 winds by adding four winds to the eight. (Agathemerus is, of course, incorrect – Aristotle had at least ten winds, not eight). Timosthenes's list (according to Agathemerus) was Aparctias (N), Boreas (not Meses, NNE), Caecias (NE), Apeliotes (E), Eurus (SE), "Phoenicias is also called Euronotos" (SSE), Notos (S), "Leuconotos alias Libonotos" (first mention, SSW), Lips (SW), Zephyrus (W), Argestes (NW) and "Thrascias alias Circius" (NNW). In many ways, Timosthenes marks a significant step in the evolution of the compass rose. Depending on how
Ventorum Situs is dated, Timosthenes can be credited with turning Aristotle's asymmetric ten-wind compass into a symmetric twelve-wind compass, by introducing the SSW wind (Leuconotos/Libonotos) omitted by Aristotle and Theophrastus and assigning the compound "Euronotos" (already alluded to by Aristotle, no mention of Theophrastus's Orthonotos here) in place of the local Phoenicias (SSE). His highlighting of the Italian "Circius" as a major variant of Thrascias (NNW) could be the first indication of the notorious
Mistral wind of the west Mediterranean. Another major change in Timoesthenes is that he shunts Boreas out of the North position and into NNE (replacing Meses) – which will become customary in later authors. Timosthenes is also significant for being perhaps the first Greek to go beyond treating these "winds" merely as meteorological phenomena and to begin viewing them properly as points of geographic direction. Timosthenes (through Agathemerus) assigns each of the 12 winds to geographical locations and peoples (relative to
Rhodes): • Aparctias (N) are the "
Scythians above
Thrace", • Boreas (NNE) are "
Pontus,
Maeotis and the
Sarmatians" • Caecias (NE) is "the
Caspian Sea and the
Sakas", • Apeliotes (E) are "the
Bactrians" • Eurus (SE) are "the
Indians", • Phoenicias/Euronotos (SSE) is "the
Red Sea and "
Aethiopia" (prob.
Axum) • Notos (S) are the " "Aethiopians beyond Egypt" (
Nubia) • Leuconotos/Libonotos (SSW) are "the
Garamantes beyond
Syrtes", • Lips (SW) are "the Ethiopians in the west beyond the Mauroi" (
Numidia,
Mauri people) • Zephyrus (W) lie "the
Pillars of Hercules and the beginning of Africa and Europe" • Argestes (NW) is "
Iberia or
Hispania" • Thrascias/Circius (NNW) are "the
Celts". Modern scholars to conjecture that Timosthenes, in his lost
periplus, might have made ample use of these winds for sailing directions (which may help explain Agathemerus's eagerness to credit Timosthenes for "inventing" the twelve winds). (Timosthenes's geographic list above is reproduced almost verbatim centuries later, in the 8th-century work of
John of Damascus and a Prague manuscript from the early 1300s.) The pseudo-Aristotelean work
De Mundo (normally attributed to an anonymous copier of
Posidonius, probably written between 50 BCE and 140 CE), the winds are named practically identically to Timosthenes (e.g. Aparctias alone in the North, Boreas shunted to NNE, Euronotus instead of Phoenicias, Circius as alternate of Thrascias). The differences of
De Mundo from Timosthenes are that (1) it introduces
Libophoenix as another name for Libonotos (Leuconotos not mentioned); (2) two alternates to Argestes are mentioned – Iapyx (as in the
Ventorum) and Olympias (as in Aristotle) (Timosthenes mentions no variants for this wind), (3) like Aristotle,
De Mundo refers to a collective of north winds, the
Boreae.
Eratosthenes and the Tower of Winds ,
Athens It is said that the geographer
Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 200 BCE), realizing that many winds presented only slight variations, reduced twelve winds down to eight principal winds. Eratosthenes's own work has been lost, but the story is reported by
Vitruvius, who goes on to say Eratosthenes came to this conclusion in the course of measuring the circumference of the earth, and felt there were really only eight equally sized sectors, and that other winds were but local variations of these eight
principal winds. If true, that would make Eratosthenes the inventor of the eight-wind
compass rose. Eratosthenes was a disciple of Timosthenes and is said to have drawn principally from his work. But they part ways on this. Both recognized that Aristotle's ten-wind rose was unbalanced, but while Timosthenes restored balance by adding two winds to make it a symmetric twelve, Eratosthenes deducted two winds to make it a symmetric eight. It seems that, in practical appeal, Eratosthenes's reduction may have won the day. The famous octagonal "
Tower of the Winds" in
Athens exhibits only eight winds rather than the ten of Aristotle or the twelve of Timosthenes. The tower is said to have been built by
Andronicus of Cyrrhus, of uncertain dates. From the style of the sculptures the tower is usually dated around 50 BC, not long before
Varro and
Vitruvius mention it. An alternative possibility is that it was part of the generosity of
Attalus III of
Pergamon (d. 131 BC) who built the
Stoa of Attalus in the city. Either way, it is after Eratosthenes. It gives as its eight winds Boreas (not Aparctias, N), Caecias (NE), Apeliotes (E), Eurus (SE), Notos (S), Lips (SW), Zephyrus (W) and Sciron (NW, variant of Argestes). Boreas' reappearance in the North slot in place of Aparctias is notable. The winds are
personified in stone
reliefs as gods (
Anemoi) at the top of the faces. Vitruvius says the tower was topped with a
weather vane. == Roman ==