Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

6 AeolosAengus eventually found her and he alsochanged into a bird.AeolosGod of storms and winds. Greek. One of the sonsof POSEIDON, said to have presented the winds ina leather bag to the hero Odysseus, and to havegiven the sail to seafarers. According to legend hishome was the Aeolian Island [Lipari Island]. Inone legend he is married to EOS and is the fatherof six sons, the various directional winds. Thehexagonal Temple of Winds, on each side of whichis depicted a flying figure of one of the winds, andwhich is dedicated to Aeolos, still stands at Athens.AeolusGod of storms and winds. Roman. Derivedfrom the Greek storm god AEOLOS, he is theconsort of AURORA and the father of six sons,BOREAS the north wind, CORUS the northwestwind, AQUILO the west wind, NOTUS the southwestwind, Eurus the east wind and ZEPHYRUSthe south wind.AequitasMinor god. Roman. Spirit of fair dealing, knownparticularly from the second century BC.AericuraChthonic underworld god. Romano-Celtic.Known only from inscriptions.AesculapiusGod of healing. Roman. Developed from theGreek deity ASKLEPIOS and introduced intoRome in 293 BC as a plague god. Attributesinclude the caduceus (winged scepter), the symbolof modern medicine.AESIRORIGIN Icelandic (Nordic). The major race ofsky gods in Norse religion.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP Viking period (circaAD 700) but developed earlier, until Christianization(circa AD 1100) and in some instancesbeyond.SYNONYMS none known.CENTER(S) OF CULT throughout areas of Nordicinfluence, particularly at Uppsala in Sweden.ART REFERENCES engraving on stone and weapons;other art objects etc.LITERARY SOURCES Icelandic codices; Prose Edda(Snorri); Historia Danica (Saxo); various classicalauthors.The twelve Aesir gods are headed by OTHIN, theAll-Father (see also the Koryak Siberian deityQUIKINN.A’QU) and probably are, in part, derivedfrom a Germanic pantheon established in prehistory.The Aesir follow a common pattern wherebycultures establish a “senior” pantheon of great godswhich usually number seven or twelve. Some ofthese are creator gods but do not necessarilyinclude the archetypal founders of the cosmos. Inmythology the Aesir exist in a realm known asAsgard, one of a number of heavens perceived inNordic and Germanic lore. The gods live in greathalls. Othin occupies Valaskjalf, roofed with silver,and in a separate building, Valhall, he assemblesslain mortal heroes. These warriors will one dayserve to defend Asgard in the final onslaughtagainst the established order by the frost giantsand other adversaries. The Aesir fought a primalbattle with a rival group of gods, the VANIR. Theirconstant enemies, though, are the Frost Giants,the Midgard Serpent, a huge sea snake encirclingthe Nordic lands, and Fenrir, the great wolf whowill catch and swallow the sun at the day of doom,Ragnarok. At that time it is foretold that the godsof Asgard will perish, and earth will be consumedby fire, finally to be cleansed by the rising watersof the sea before being born anew.