Zephyrus’s Family Tree

About Zephyrus →

Family

• Astraeus(parent),Eos(parent),Boreas(sibling),Eurus(sibling),Notus(sibling)— Marriage

  Astraeus and Eos are the parents of the four Anemoi: Boreas, Zephyrus, Notus, and Eurus, the gods who control the directional winds.

• Chloris(spouse)— Marriage

  Zephyrus abducted the nymph Chloris and made her his wife, granting her dominion over flowers as a wedding gift. Their union was an aetiological myth for the arrival of spring.

• Iris(spouse)— Consort

  In Nonnus's Dionysiaca, Iris and Zephyrus are paired as consorts. Some traditions credit their union with producing Pothos, the personification of longing.

Enemy of

• Apollo

  Zephyrus and Apollo were rivals for the love of Hyacinthus. When Hyacinthus chose Apollo, the jealous Zephyrus deflected Apollo's discus to kill the youth, turning erotic rivalry into fatal violence.

Slew

• Hyacinthus

  Zephyrus, jealous that Hyacinthus favored Apollo over him, deliberately blew Apollo's discus off course so that it struck and killed Hyacinthus. Apollodorus and later mythographers name Zephyrus as the agent of the fatal blow.

Serves

• Aeolus

  Aeolus controls Zephyrus, the west wind, and freed him alone to carry Odysseus's ships toward Ithaca.

Member of

• Anemoi

  The Anemoi are the four wind gods: Boreas (north), Zephyrus (west), Notus (south), and Eurus (east), each governing a cardinal direction's wind.

Equivalent to

• Favonius(Roman)

  Favonius is the Roman counterpart of the Greek Zephyrus, both personifying the west wind, though Roman tradition emphasized his agricultural significance over mythological narrative.

Associated with

• Chloris

  Zephyrus abducted the nymph Chloris from a meadow and granted her dominion over flowers. Their union was the mythological origin of spring — when the west wind blows, flowers bloom in Chloris's wake.

• Eurybia

  Zephyrus, the west wind, is a grandson of Eurybia through her son Astraeus and his wife Eos. Hesiod names all the Anemoi as descendants of this lineage connecting sea and sky.

• Harpies

  The Harpies are connected to Zephyrus through Podarge, who mated with the west wind while grazing in a meadow by the river Ocean. From their union came the immortal horses Xanthus and Balius, who drew Achilles's chariot at Troy.

• Hyacinthus

  Zephyrus desired Hyacinthus but was spurned in favor of Apollo. His jealousy drove him to deflect the discus that killed the youth, making him both a rejected lover and the agent of Hyacinthus's death.

• Psyche

  Zephyrus, the gentle West Wind, carried Psyche from the mountain crag to the hidden valley where Eros's golden palace awaited her. He served as Eros's agent in bringing his bride to their secret home.