Deities and personifications of seasons

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Jean Goujon, The Four Seasons, reliefs on the Hôtel Carnavalet, Paris, c. 1550s.

There are a number of deities and personifications associated with seasons in various mythologies, traditions, and fiction.

Winter[edit]

Spring[edit]

Staffordshire figure of Spring, from a set of the Four Seasons, Neale & Co, c. 1780, 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)
  • Ēostre, West Germanic spring goddess; she is the namesake of the festival of Easter in some languages.
  • Brigid, celtic Goddess of Fire, the Home, poetry and the end of winter. Her festival, Imbolc, is on 1st or 2nd of February which marks "the return of the light".
  • Persephone, greek Goddess of Spring. Her festival or the day she returns to her mother Demeter from the Underworld is on 3rd of April.
  • Many fertility deities are also associated with spring
  • In Roman mythology, Flora was a Sabine-derived goddess of flowers[2] and of the season of spring[3]
  • Jarylo (Cyrillic: Ярило or Ярила; Polish: Jaryło; Croatian: Jura or Juraj; Serbian: Jarilo; Slavic: Jarovit), alternatively Yarylo, Iarilo, or Gerovit, is a Slavic god of vegetation, fertility and springtime.[4]
  • Eiar, a hora of spring, classic ancient Greece.
  • the great Spring God (春大神), of Ba Jia Jiang (The Eight Generals), originated from the Chinese folk beliefs and myths
  • Morityema the god of spring & the West Mountain in Native American mythology.

Summer[edit]

  • Áine, Irish goddess of love, summer, wealth and sovereignty, associated with the sun and midsummer
  • Theros, a hora of summer, classic ancient Greece
  • Damia, a hora of summer, early ancient Greece
  • the Great Summer God (夏大神), of Ba Jia Jiang (The Eight Generals), originated from the Chinese folk beliefs and myths
  • Freyr, Norse god of summer, sunlight, life and rain
  • Hine-Raumati, Personification of the summer from Māori mythology
  • Miochin the god of summer & the South Mountain in Native American Mythology

Autumn[edit]

  • Pthinoporon, from Greek phthinophôron, a hora of autumn, classic ancient Greece
  • the Great Autumn God (秋大神), of Ba Jia Jiang (The Eight Generals), originated from the Chinese folk beliefs and myths
  • Shruisthia the god of autumn & the East Mountain in Native American Mythology

Anemoi[edit]

In ancient Greek mythology Anemoi were the gods of wind, three of which were associated with seasons:

  • Boreas (Septentrio in Latin) was the north wind and bringer of cold winter air
  • Zephyrus or Zephyr (Favonius in Latin) was the west wind and bringer of light spring and early summer breezes
  • Notus or Notos (Auster in Latin) was the south wind and bringer of the storms of late summer and autumn. Notos not only brings rain and heavy downpour, but he can also bring extremely hot air (avg. 45°C) especially in the southern parts of Greece.
  • Eurus (Eurus in Latin) was the East Wind & bringer of warmth & rain

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z50.5B.html
  2. ^ H. Nettleship ed., A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1891) p. 238
  3. ^ "Flora". Myth Index. Archived from the original on 2016-05-03.
  4. ^ source of Jarilio name in IAU Nomenclature