One of the few ancient buildings and indeed ancient clocks that stands almost intact and in continuous occupation till recent times, the Tower of Winds is a combination of Roman sundial, water clock and wind-vane. An octagonal marble structure with a conical roof, this ancient clock, or Horologion or Tower of the Winds (Aerides) was built by the astronomer Andronicus from Macedonia in the middle of the 1st century BC.
Personifications of the 8 winds, among which Boreas and Zephyros, are carved in the relief at the top of the sides of the ancient clock. The rays of the Roman sundial are carved beneath the wind gods. Inside the Tower of Winds is a water clock which told the time during the night or in cloudy days. On the top of the ancient clock a wind-vane in the shape of a bronze Triton indicated the direction of the wind.
“For the Romans time was weather, weather time, tempus, tempestas”, writes Onians: “The day changes in intelligible order... and is not merely the sky above... but the wind blowing from this quarter or that, soft or strong or not all”. This concept of time of the Romans is accurately depicted on the ancient clock of the Roman Agora in Athens. Eight winds are carved on the sides of the Roman sundial. Among them Boreas and Zephyros.
Boreas on the Tower of Winds
The Greek god of the North Wind, Boreas is depicted in the Tower of the Winds as a winged mature bearded man with short pleated tunic holding a sea shell. Boreas hails from Thrace. He is able to race his twelve mares over the ground without destroying the grain. Referred to by Homer as legendary for his anger, Boreas helped the Athenians by sinking the ships of their Persian attackers. He is son of Eos and Astraeus and brother of Zephyrus, Eurus and Notus. The Romans called Boreas Aquilo or Aquilon.
Zephyros on the Tower of Winds
The Greek god of the West Wind, Zephyros is the most gentle of winds depicted in the Roman sundial of the Agora as a winged young man holding a loadful of flowers. Zephyros is the harbinger of spring. Like his brother Boreas he hails from Thrace and is said to have fought Boreas for the love of Chloris. Zephyrus was also said to have fallen in love with Hyacinth and to have killed him in a fit of jealousy.
Other Greek Gods on the Ancient Clock
The rest of the six sides of the Roman sundial are occupied by
- Euros, or Eurus, or Vulturnus for the Romans, is the god of the East Wind. Together with Boreas, Zephyros and Notos is one of the four main winds.
- Notos, or Notus is the god of the South Wind. Notus is Auster for the Romans and is feared as a destroyer of crops. He is associated with hot winds and late summer and autumn storms. On the Tower of Winds he is depicted as a young man holding an upturned pitcher. Together with Boreas, Zephyros and Euros, Notos is one of the four main winds.
- Apeliotes, or Apeliotus for the Romans, is the god of the southeast wind. Apeliotes is a wind beneficial to farmers as it brings rain and is depicted on the ancient clock of the Roman Agora as a young man with curly hair holding cloth full of fruit, flowers or grain. He is one of the lesser winds.
- Kaikias, or Caecius for the Romans, is a northeast wind depicted on the ancient clock as bearded man holding a shield full of hailstones. His name derives from the Greek “kakia” which means meanness. Kaikias is one of the lesser winds.
- Skiron, or Skeiron, or Caurus for the Romans, is the Greek god of the northwest wind depicted on the Roman sundial as a bearded man overturning a cauldron signalling the onset of winter.
- Lips, or Livos, or Africus for the Romans, is the Roman god of the southwest wind. He is depicted on the Tower of Winds as a young man holding the stern of ship.
The Roman sundial was turned into a church in the early Christian period and in the 18th century it became a Dervish monastery. It is near another important structure of the Roman Agora of Athens, the public latrines, about which see Roman Sewers in Athens Agora: Latrines of the Ancient Romans.
Sources
Encyclopedia Mythica
Cassell’s Dictionary of Classical Mythology, London 1999
Joseph Noble and Derek de Solla Price, “The Water Clock in the Tower of the Winds”, Archaeological Institute of America, vol. 72, no. 4 (Oct. 1968).
R. B. Onians, The Origins of European Thought: About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate, Cambridge University Press, 2nd revised ed. 1988.
On ancient clocks see the National Institute of Standards and Technology website
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