Favonius- Roman GodDeity
Description
Roman god of the west wind whose warm breath dissolved winter and opened the growing season. Pliny records his arrival on February 8, when farmers began pruning vines and sowing spring crops. Horace gave him one of Latin poetry's great opening lines: Solvitur acris hiems grata vice veris et Favoni.
Mythology & Lore
The Eighth of February
Pliny records that Favonius begins to blow on February 8. With his arrival, the agricultural year started. Columella instructs farmers to prune their vines and graft their trees when they feel the west wind. The soil warms. Dormant roots stir. Lucretius opens De Rerum Natura with the west wind unlocking the earth: the seas grow calm and the sky pours down light.
Horace caught the moment in four words: Solvitur acris hiems. Harsh winter dissolves. Favonius arrives, and the year turns.
Chloris
In the Fasti, Ovid lets Flora tell her own origin. She was once the nymph Chloris. The west wind caught her, and flowers spilled from her lips as she spoke. She became Flora, goddess of blossoming, and Favonius became her husband.
Flora's festival, the Floralia, ran from April 28 to May 3. Revelers scattered flowers and beans through the streets. What Favonius started in February, Flora finished in spring.
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