s, AEolus was a king of the AEolian Islands,
to whom Zeus gave the command of the winds, which he kept shut up in a deep
cave, and which he freed at his pleasure, or at the command of the gods.

In later times the above belief underwent a change, and the winds came to
be regarded as distinct divinities, whose aspect accorded with the
respective winds with which they were identified. They were depicted as
{171} winged youths in full vigour in the act of flying through the air.

The principal winds were: Boreas (the north wind), Eurus (the east wind),
Zephyrus (the west wind), and Notus (the south wind), who were said to be
the children of Eos and Astraeus.

There are no myths of interest connected with these divinities. Zephyrus
was united to Chloris (Flora), the goddess of flowers. Of Boreas it is
related that while flying over the river Ilissus, he beheld on the banks
Oreithyia, the charming daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, whom he
carried off to his native Thrace, and there made her his bride. Boreas and
Oreithyia were the parents of Zetes and Calais, afterwards famous in the
expedition of the Argonauts.

There was an altar erected at Athens in honour of Boreas, in commemoration
of his having destroyed the Persian fleet sent to attack the Greeks.

On the Acropolis at Athens there was a celebrated octagonal temple, built
by Pericles, which was dedicated to the winds, and on its sides were their
various representations. The ruins of this temple are still to be seen.

PAN (FAUNUS).

[Illustration]

Pan was the god of fertility, and the special patron of shepherds and
huntsmen; he presided over all rural occupations, was chief of the Satyrs,
and head of all rural divinities.

According to the common belief, he was the son of Hermes and a wood nymph,
and came into the world with horns sprouting from his forehead, a goat's
beard and a crooked nose, pointed ears, and the tail and feet of a goat,
and presented altogether so repulsive {172} an appearance that, at the
sight of him, his mother fled in dismay.

Hermes, however, took up his curious little offspring, wrapt him in a hare
skin, and carried him in his arms to Olympus. The grotesque form and merry
antics of the little stranger made him a great favourite with all the
immortals, especially Dionysus; and they bestowed upon him the name of Pan
(all), because he had delighted them _all_.

His favourite haunts were grottoes, and his delight was to wander in