Eos

Eos was the rosy-fingered Titan goddess of the dawn.

Residence: The Sky
Symbol: Saffron, chariot, grasshopper, roses and tiara
Parents: Hyperion and Theia
Siblings: Helius and Selene
Consort: Astraeus
Children: Anemoi and Astraea
Roman equivalent: Aurora

Eos in her chariot flying over the sea. Red-figure krater from South Italy, c. 430–420 BC, Staatliche Antikensammlungen.

She and her siblings Helius and Selene were numbered amongst the second-generation Titan gods. Eos rose into the sky from the river Oceanus at the start of each day, and with her rays of light dispersed the mists of night.She was depicted either driving a chariot drawn by winged horses or borne aloft on her own wings.

Eos had an unquenchable desire for handsome young men, some say as the result of a curse laid upon her by the goddess Aphrodite. Her lovers included Orion, Phaethon, Cephalus and Tithonus, three of which she ravished away to distant lands. The Trojan prince Tithonus became her official consort. When the goddess petitioned Zeus for his immortality, she neglected also to request eternal youth. In time, he shriveled up by old age and was transformed into a grasshopper.

Detail of an Apulian red-figure krater, 4th c. BC, depicting Eos and Helius in their chariots. Antikensammlungen, Munich. (c) theoi.com
Eos and the slain Memnon on an Attic red-figure cup, c. 490–480 BC, from Capua. Louvre.

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