Editing Notus (section)

== Mythology ==
[[File:NotosGodOfTheSouthWind-Byzantine-ROM-Dec29-07.png|thumb|left|Byzantine fresco depicting Notus.]]

Notus is one of the three wind-gods mentioned by [[Hesiod]], alongside his brothers [[Boreas (god)|Boreas]] and [[Zephyrus]],{{sfn|Kerenyi|1951|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7346/page/n231/mode/2up?view=theater 205]}} the three wind gods seen as beneficial by the ancient Greeks.<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/zephyrus-e12216400 | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e12216400 | website = referenceworks-brillonline-com/subjects | last = Rausch | first = Sven | location = Hamburg | title = Zephyrus | date = 2006 | editor-first1 = Hubert | editor-last1 = Cancik | editor-first2 = Helmuth | editor-last2 = Schneider | translator = Christine F. Salazar | access-date = April 13, 2023| url-access = subscription }}</ref> Unlike his two more prominent brothers however, Notus has very little mythology, and mostly appears in conjugation with his brothers, with too few unique appearances to differate him from the rest.{{sfn|Grimal|1987|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofclas00grim/page/311/mode/2up?view=theater 312]}}

In his preparation for the Great Deluge, [[Zeus]] locked up Boreas and the other cloud-blowing gales, and let Notus free, to rain upon the earth, who let it pour all over the globe, drowning almost everyone.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0074%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D253 1.262]</ref>

[[File:VarsaviaPalazzo4VentiVento1_(cropped_and_mirrored).jpg|thumb|Statue of Notus.]]

In the ''[[Odyssey]]'' the winds seem to dwell on the island of [[Aeolia (mythical island)|Aeolia]], as [[Zeus]] has made [[Aeolus (son of Hippotes)|Aeolus]] keeper of the winds.{{sfn|Myrsiades|2019|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2bcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT104 104]}} Aeolus receives [[Odysseus]] and his crew, and keeps them as guests for a month.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D1 1-45]</ref> As they part, Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag containing all the winds, except for Zephyrus; although warned not to open the bag, Odysseus's crewmates however foolishly open the bag, thinking it to contain some treasure, and set free Notus along with all the other winds as well, who then blow the ships back to Aeolia.{{sfn|Myrsiades|2019|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2bcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT104 104]}}

In the ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' meanwhile, he and his brothers live with their father Astraeus; Notus serves water from a jug when [[Demeter]] pays a visit.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/216/mode/2up?view=theater 6.28]</ref> In the ''[[Iliad]]'', Notus dined together with his brothers in a far away land as [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] visited to summon Boreas and Zephyrus.<ref>[[Homer]], the ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D23%3Acard%3D192 23.192-225]</ref>{{sfn|Hard|2004|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA48 48]}} Much later, he and [[Eurus]] strand Odysseus on [[Thrinacia]], the island of the sun-god [[Helios]], for an entire month.{{sfn|Gantz|1996|page=[https://archive.org/details/early-greek-myth-a-guide-timothy-gantz/page/704/mode/2up?view=theater 705]}}

In the [[Pergamon Altar]] which depicts the battle of the gods against the [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Giants]], Notus and the other three wind gods are shown as horse-shaped deities who pull Hera's chariot;<ref>''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ac4ebff2462-9 617 (Venti)]</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = Max | last = Kunze | title = Der grosse Marmoraltar von Pergamon | trans-title = The Large Marble Altar of Pergamon | publisher = Staatliche Museem zu Berlin | language = German | location = Berlin | date = 1988 | pages = 23–24}}</ref> their equine form is also found in [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]]'s works, where they pull Zeus instead.<ref>[[Quintus Smyrnaeus]], ''[[Posthomerica|Fall of Troy]]'' [https://archive.org/details/falloftroy00quin/page/500/mode/2up?view=theater 12.189]</ref> In the [[Tower of the Winds]], a Roman-era octagonal clock tower in [[Athens]], Notus is depicted in middle relief as a beardless young man emptying a water-filled pointed amphora, symbolizing rain.<ref>''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [https://weblimc.org/page/monument/2071045 363]</ref>

In one of his few defining appearances, Notus features in two of the ''Dialogues of the Sea Gods'', a satirical work by [[Lucian]] of [[Samsat|Samosata]]. In the first, he and Zephyrus discuss the woes of the Argive princess [[Io (mythology)|Io]] at the hands of [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]],<ref>[[Lucian]], ''Dialogues of the Sea Gods'' [http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:dialogues:dialogues-of-the-sea-gods#vii 7: South Wind and West Wind I]</ref> while in the second Zephyrus enthusiastically describes the marvellous scene of the abduction of [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]] by the bull, while Notus admits in disappointment having seen nothing of note.<ref>[[Lucian]], ''Dialogues of the Sea Gods'' [http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:dialogues:dialogues-of-the-sea-gods#xv 15: South Wind and West Wind II]</ref>