The figures of the Eight Winds appeared on the original Tower of the Winds in Athens and were used by the sculptor John Bacon (1740-99) as the basis for his designs for the flying figures round the top of the stonework of the Observatory. Bacon also designed the two statues (in cast iron) of Atlas and Hercules who support the globe on the roof.
Zephyros was the Greek god of the west wind. The gentlest of the winds, Zephyrus is known as the fructifying wind, the messenger of spring, with flowers signifying a mild light breeze.
Lips (or Livos) was the Greek deity of the south-west wind. He was often portrayed as a young man holding a ship's stern-post, because the south-west wind blew straight into the harbour of Piraeus, preventing ships from sailing.
Notos, the South Wind, was associated with desiccating hot wind after midsummer, and was thought to bring the storms of late summer and autumn. He was feared as a destroyer of crops, and depicted with water pouring from his pitcher.
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Isisbridge said:
The figures of the Eight Winds appeared on the original Tower of the Winds in Athens and were used by the sculptor John Bacon (1740-99) as the basis for his designs for the flying figures round the top of the stonework of the Observatory. Bacon also designed the two statues (in cast iron) of Atlas and Hercules who support the globe on the roof.
www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/about/history/radcliffe-observatory
Zephyros was the Greek god of the west wind. The gentlest of the winds, Zephyrus is known as the fructifying wind, the messenger of spring, with flowers signifying a mild light breeze.
Lips (or Livos) was the Greek deity of the south-west wind. He was often portrayed as a young man holding a ship's stern-post, because the south-west wind blew straight into the harbour of Piraeus, preventing ships from sailing.
Notos, the South Wind, was associated with desiccating hot wind after midsummer, and was thought to bring the storms of late summer and autumn. He was feared as a destroyer of crops, and depicted with water pouring from his pitcher.