Aeolus

views updated May 23 2018

Aeolus in Greek mythology, the god of the winds; in Homer's Odyssey, a mortal to whom Zeus had given command of the winds, and who in Virgil's Aeneid is shown as keeping them imprisoned in a cave. His name has given rise to the name of the Aeolian harp, a stringed instrument producing musical sounds on exposure to a current of air.