www.mythinglinks.org/ ct~skydeities.html  Used with permission

Her Love Affairs

Eos (Goddess of the Dawn). was involved in many love affairs. 

Eos was the lover of Orion. Because of this affair, Artemis killed Orion, because the gods were jealous because he was the lover of Eos. 

Eos also carried off Cephalus, the son of Hermes & Herse (or maybe; Creusa, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens), and took him to Syria. 

Eos consorted with Astraeus, the son of the Titan Crius & Eurybia, daughter of Pontus (Sea) & Gaia (Earth). They gave birth to the WINDS and to the stars, among which Eosphorus. 

Eos fell in love with Tithonus and carried him away, bringing him to Eastern Ethiopia, where he founded Susa.

But Tithonus, son of King Laomedon of Troy, was a mortal man.  Eos asked Zeus that Tithonus should be deathless and live eternally.  But on asking this favor she forgot to ask youth for him. At first they lived as lovers, but when his hair was gray Eos grew tired of sleeping with him. 

In spite of nourishing him with ambrosia, Old Age came till he could not move nor lift his limbs or do anything except babble endlessly. Then she shut him up in his chamber, where his feeble voice could be heard sometimes. Finally she turned him into a grasshopper. 

Eos is young, highly spirited, and lovely; it is Her nature to awaken desire. Her eyelids are snowy, Her cheeks rosy and Her head crowned with beautiful, dewy tresses. She has rosy arms and fingers and large, white wings. She wears a radiant crown or a star on Her head, and sometimes She is veiled. Her robes are saffron yellow or dazzling white and purple, and she wears yellow shoes. 

She rides a rose-colored, purple or golden chariot drawn by white horses. Or She may float in air, holding in each hand a pitcher, from which She pours the dew. Or again She may come riding on Pegasos and carrying a torch, for She requested Pegasos from Zeus after He punished Bellerophon. 

Tender-hearted Eos is always eager for young mortal lovers.  Aphrodite, She brings love to mortals, but is not so easily placated as the Goddess of Love. So also Dawn brings a renewal of erotic passions. 

Eos lives by the streams of Ocean at the eastern end of the Earth. According to some, this is on Delos, the Isle of the Rising Sun, where Apollo and Artemis were born. The cocks call Her in the morning, and She awakes and leaps eagerly from the bed of Tithonos, the deathless Trojan prince who is Her husband. 

She leaves Her court, glowing with rosy light, and opens the purple Eastern Gates of pearl upon the pathway strewn with roses. Swiftly She rides forth in Her chariot drawn by two horses, Firebright and Daybright, while Night and Sleep] fly in front of Her. 

Eos lifts the veil of night and chases away the hosts of stars. So also the souls of the dead depart at daybreak. The first light of Dawn is white, for that is the color of Her wings. Next we see the golden radiance from Her saffron robe and yellow shoes. Finally Her rosy arms and fingers stretch across the heavens. The flowers and plants, drenched by the dew that She pours from her pitchers, lift their faces to Her in gratitude for the new day. 

A fresh wind is felt at Dawn's approach, for Astraios, who is the Dawn Wind, and Eos unite at dawn, to produce a fertilizing spirit. And so, by Starry Astraios, She is the mother of the strong-hearted winds: brightening Zephyros , the West Wind, Boreas, the North Wind, headlong in His course, and Notos, the South Wind; the remaining wind is Argestês, Bringer of Brightness, who is either Apheliotês or Euros. 

These are the winds of morning, which bring benefits to mortals, as opposed to the other, turbulent, chaotic winds, for the beneficial winds are born of Eos, "the eternally new light of the dawning day," and Astraios, "the luminous radiance of the night sky." The Four Winds help to organize human labor, to orient the sea lanes, and to define the cycle of the seasons. 

To Astraios, the Ancient Father of the Stars, She also bore the star Heôsphoros, Dawn-bringer, and the other gleaming stars by which the heaven is crowned. That is, the God of the Night Sky united with Dawn to engender the Morning Star. Others say that this Daystar, who is called Phaethôn, the Illuminator, is the son of Eos and Kephalos. In any case, carrying a torch He flies by his own wings before Her chariot. 

The Hindus say that Dawn is a young wife, who wakes Her children and gives them new strength for the day's work. But because "to be awakened" is "to be wise," they also say She is the Goddess who brings wisdom. 

As the New Day, Eos accompanies Her brother Helios, the Sun, throughout the day, riding or walking ahead of His chariot. Therefore She is identified with daylight and is called Queen of Day. At dusk She accompanies the Sun to the west, where She is called Hespera. 

Helios is preceded on His course by Selene and Eos, His sisters. Eos is the wilder and more turbulent of the two. Selene, Eos and Helios are Night, Dawn and Day. Their colors are the Black of Night, the Red of Morning and the White of Day. 

Dawn Prayer

I greet Thee, Eos Goddess of the Dawn,
who brings the newborn day; the stars are gone,
and fled before Thy face; both Sleep and Night
are routed by Thy torch, and put to flight. 
The flowers are awakened by Thy dew,
and turn toward the light, for You renew
their life; so also may Thy dew revive
my soul today with thanks to be alive.
You care for all that's fresh and young,
so care for me, to whom Thy dew has clung.
For You remind us that the darkest night
must yield to day and flee before the light. 

I pray Thee, shining Dawn, to bring to me
abundant wisdom, love and energy.
I ask Thee, gracious Goddess, for a wealth
of hope, of time to do, of strength and health.
Especially, this day I ask of Thee:
(fill in request) So may it be! 

I give my thanks for all this day may bring,
all things embraced by Dawn and Evening. 

Blow a kiss toward the Dawn.