Stars are occasionally represented with an astronomical reference, as on the Blacas krater, where they appear in the form of youths, or grouped with Helios, Selene, and Eos.[[954]] Phosphoros, the Morning Star, may be identified in this connection, represented as a youth running[[955]]; but in other cases they are not personified, as on a vase which represents the moon and stars with the constellation Pegasos.[[956]]
Hemera, the Day, we have already once noted; but in art she is hardly to be distinguished from Eos (Dawn). Nor can Nyx (Night) be identified with certainty on vases.[[957]] Eos is not an uncommon figure, especially on R.F. vases, and she also plays a part in certain myths. As a single figure she appears rising from the sea in, or driving, a four-horse chariot like Helios,[[958]] her steeds in one case being named Phlegethon and Lampon. She is also represented flying with two hydriae, from which she pours out dew upon the earth.[[959]] She is frequently seen pursuing or carrying Kephalos[[960]] or Tithonos,[[961]] and is present at the apotheosis of Alkmena.[[962]] At the combat of her son Memnon with Achilles she and the other mother, Thetis, are generally present.[[963]] She also pleads with Zeus for her son’s safety,[[964]] and bears away his body after the fatal issue of the fight.[[965]]
Next we have to deal with the Winds, as personified by the figures of Boreas, Zephyros, etc. As single figures they seldom appear, though we have possible instances of Boreas, with the unusual type of a serpent’s tail,[[966]] or simply as a winged male figure.[[967]] A wind-god is seen in an episode from the Gigantomachia opposing the chariot of Zeus,[[968]] and another in an assemblage of deities round Apollo Kitharoidos.[[969]] Zephyros is seen pursuing Hyakinthos,[[970]] and he and Boreas together bear the body of a warrior to the tomb in the same manner as Hypnos and Thanatos.[[971]] But the most important subject connected with Boreas is his pursuit of the Athenian maiden Oreithyia, a frequent scene on the later R.F. vases,[[972]] some being very fine examples. Erechtheus, Kekrops, and the Nymphs Aglauros, Herse, and Pandrosos, are usually present, and the latter in one case announce the news to Kekrops or Erechtheus.[[973]] Boreas is also depicted in the act of punishing Phineus by blinding him, and attacked by the latter’s friend Parebios.[[974]]
On some early B.F. vases we find winged beings which may be styled Boreades, in conjunction with Harpies, apparently representing the influences of good and evil winds respectively.[[975]] Zetes and Kalais, the sons of Boreas, will be treated of in the story of the Argonautika.[[976]] The Aurae or breezes have been identified on a well-known vase in the British Museum,[[977]] and on an Apulian vase in the same collection is a head undoubtedly intended for Aura.[[978]] The Hyades or rain-goddesses in two instances extinguish the flames of a funeral pyre at the bidding of Zeus, at the apotheosis of Alkmena[[979]] and of Herakles[[980]]; in one of the latter instances they are named Arethusa and Premnusia. They also receive the infant Dionysos.[[981]] Echo belongs perhaps rather to the Dionysiac cycle, appearing as the beloved of Pan.[[982]]
II. We may next consider the personifications of cities and countries, which are, indeed, in some cases more than merely symbolical figures, being actual goddesses with a definite cult, such as the Nymph Kyrene, who often appears on works of art.[[983]] On the great Naples vase representing Dareios in a council of war, personifications of Hellas and Asia are placed among the spectator-deities,[[984]] and the former seems also to be indicated on a similar vase with a battle of Greeks and Persians.[[985]] On one of the late vases with the subject of Pelops and Oinomaos, a personification of the locality Olympia appears to be similarly present,[[986]] just as on the Hieron kotyle the personification of Eleusis is included among the Eleusinian and other deities at the sending forth of Triptolemos.[[987]] The city of Thebes is personified in several instances, especially as a spectator of Kadmos slaying the dragon[[988]]; also on a “Megarian” bowl with reliefs in the British Museum, the subjects on which are taken from the Phoenissae of Euripides.[[989]] Nemea, the scene of Herakles’ victory over the lion, and of the death of Archermos, is similarly personified as a Nymph in the representations of both subjects,[[990]] and the town of Krommyon as a Nymph protests against the slaying of the sow by Theseus.[[991]] The Nymph Sparta occurs once, dismounting from her horse.[[992]] Two cups of the early B.F. class usually known (from their subjects) as Cyrenaic, bear representations of the Nymph Kyrene (see above)—in one case with Apollo, in the other holding a branch of silphium (the local product) and surrounded by Boreads and Harpies (see above).[[993]]
Among the Greek islands, Aegina and Salamis were supposed to have derived their names from Nymphs beloved of Zeus and Poseidon, who are represented pursuing these quasi-personified figures[[994]]; we may also regard Europa as coming under that category.[[995]] Zeus also pursues Taygeta, who is connected with the mountain in Laconia.[[996]] On one vase we find the names of the islands Delos, Euboea, and Lemnos,[[997]] given, presumably in pure fancy, to two Maenads and a Satyr in a Dionysiac scene where all the figures are named. A more genuine instance is that of the Nymph Krete on the Talos vase, indicating the locality.[[998]]
Turning to other geographical features, we have Mount Olympos transformed into a lyre-playing companion of Satyrs[[999]]; or, again, river-gods such as Acheloös, who as a combination of man and bull, or with a fish-body like Triton, wrestles with Herakles.[[1000]] The river Nile appears once, but not personified—only as an indication of landscape.[[1001]] In connection with the city of Thebes we find personifications of the local river Ismenos and the local fountain-Nymphs Dirke and Krenaia.[[1002]]
III. Natural products, such as Oinos (Wine) and Opora (Harvest), are only found personified among the Dionysiac conceptions with which we have already dealt (p. [65]); to these two names we may add those of Hedyoinos (Sweet Wine), Kissos (Ivy), Kalyke (Bud), and Rodo (Rose), the three latter coming more under the heading of pet-names than of strict personifications.