Weather

As Hurricane Nate makes its landfall here, I would like take a look at the ancient Greeks' thoughts on weather. The Greeks tried to explain the then inexplicable forces of nature through mythology. Many ancient Greek gods and goddesses were elements of weather and seasons personified. Each meteorological and earthly element was broken down into subsets assigned to specific gods that were ruled over by a king god. Aeolus was the god of wind, but the winds were broken down into Boreas, the north wind who controlled the cold winds of winter; Notos, the south wind, the bringer of summer storms; Zephryos was the west wind who brought spring breezes (hence, New Orleans Zephyrs, but I just found out that the team name changed to New Orleans Baby Cakes) and Euros was the east wind. All occurrences of favorable or poor weather were thought to be a direct result of godly intervention. The delay of Socrates' execution because of contrary winds is a good example. In Oedipus Rex, Zeus strikes Thebes with famine.

After all these deadly hurricanes this summer, I think we should send prayers to Notos.