Eos: the Goddess of Dawn

Have you ever wondered how the Greeks explained dawn, or dew? In Greek mythology, Eos was the goddess of dawn. Her roman name was Aurora, hence Reni’s famous painting Aurora. She was the daughter of two titans, Hyperion and Theia. Eos had a brother and a sister, her brother was Helios (the sun) and her sister was Selene (the moon). Everyday Eos would lead the way, announcing to Olympus and the rest of the world that her brother, the sun, was coming. Hesiod recognizes the significance of these gods in his poem:

“Theia yielded to Hyperion’s love and gave birth
to great Helios and bright Selene and Eos,
who brings light to all the mortals of this earth
and to the immortal gods who rule the wide sky.”
(Hesiod, Theogony, 371-74)

Eos was also played a role in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer refers to the goddess as “rosy-fingered”, “early-rising”, and “saffron-robed”. She has a team of horses that pull her chariot across the sky, their names are Lampos and Phaethon, which translate into Firebright and Daybright. She rose up from her island home of Aiaia, in the river Okeanos, each morning and scattered the dark mists of the night with her brilliance. When Helios appears Eos becomes Hemera (Day) and she then travels with him through the sky and turns into Hespera (Dusk) and announces their safe arrival in the west.

It is said she had only a liking for mortals, a curse put on her by Aphrodite. Eos once had an affair with Ares, and that angered Aphrodite. She put a curse on Eos that she would constantly be in love. Tithonus, Cephalus, Orion, and Astraeus are just some of the fatal attractions of Eos. Many of these men she had children with, in her affair with Tithonus she bore his son, Memnon. With Astraeus she had the Winds and the Stars, among them was Eosphorus (Morning star).

In the myth of Eos and Tithonus, she fell in love with Tithonus, the son of King Loamedon of Troy. She was so in love she asked Zeus to give him immortality, but she forgot one thing, she didn’t ask for everlasting youth. Soon he grew old and she didn’t care for him anymore, so she locked him up in a tower. After hearing his feeble cries for so long, she turned him into a grasshopper.


Later during the Trojan War, her son Memnon was killed in battle. She sent her children, the Winds to carry his body to the banks of the river Esepus in Paphlagonia. In the evening Eos came accompanied the Hours and the Pleiads. Eos remains inconsolable for the loss of her son. Her tears still flow and you can see them in the form of dewdrops on the grass.

Eos had many affairs with mortals and with titans. One such affair was with a titan by the name of Astraeus. In her relationship with Astraeus, she bore him 4 sons, the Winds. The Wind’s names are Zephyrus, Boreas, Notus, and Eurus. She also gave birth to Eosphorus, the morning star and some say even the stars themselves. She had no children with Orion that we know about. When Orion and Eos were together some of the gods were jealous and for that, it is said, Artemis killed him.

This is a very important goddess in Greek mythology. You may have not heard of her but she is tied to many gods and goddesses. She gave birth to some of the most important things in mythology. Her children are in many myths also. She is not mentioned in many mythology books and I hope people will recognize her more.