If you are walking about in Athens you might want to see the Tower of the Winds, also called horologion (timepiece) or Book of Hours is located on the east side of the Roman Agora. The Tower of the Winds stands 42 feet high and was designed by a famous astronomer Andronicus of Cyrrhus during the Hellenistic period around the mid-2nd centry B.C. There are 8 winds carved on the 8 sides of the marble building, decorated with a frieze of figures in relief representing the 8 winds As you can see from the above drawing... there used to be a  weathervane-like Triton that indicated the wind direction. ΒΟΡΕΑΣ (North).

He blows the cold north wind
through a large shell.
ΝΟΤΟΣ (South).
Bearer of rain, he empties
a pot of water.
ΚΑΙΚΙΑΣ (North East).
He throws a basket of hailstones
on those below.
ΕΥΡΟΣ (South East).
An old man with beard
is wrapped in a cloak.
ΑΠΕΛΙΟΤΗΣ (East).
A young man bringing
fruits and grain.
ΖΕΦΥΡΟΣ (West).
A semi naked young man
scattering flowers.
ΣΚΙΡΩΝ (North West).
He scatters glowing ashes
from a bronze vessel.
ΛΙΨ (South West).
He holds the stern of a ship as he steers.

 

It is interesting to note that the Chinese consider 8 a lucky number.
This is because the pronunciation for the number 8 is "ba", which sounds like "fa", which means to  make a fortune, to acquire wealth, or to become rich.


 

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