Classical word of the day

Boreas was the god of the north wind for the Ancient Greeks. Perhaps due to his association with winter he is usually portrayed as menacing and severe, and was even called the "devouring one" . Many of the stories about him are related to Athens. The Athenians held him to be an ally owing to a familial tie dating back to his rape of an Athenian princess named Oreithiya in early legends. This alliance became especially important when the Athenians were confronted with the 400 ships of Xerxes, the Persian king. According to Herodotus, the north wind wrecked many of Xerxes ships, causing him to abandon his mission to invade Greece.

The Greek word "boreios, -a, -on" means, "from the north". It is interesting to conjecture that the Greeks may have gotten their sense of direction from the direction of the winds. One might consider this particularly with regard to sea-voyages. An article entitled "Boreas at Athens" may be found here: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3294095