Notus was the god of the south wind — the hot, storm-bringing breath of late summer and early autumn, the wind that ripened the late crops but also wrecked them with sudden tempests. Of the four Anemoi, he was the wind of the rains and the autumn storms, feared by farmers and sailors alike.
The South Wind
A son of the dawn-goddess Eos and the star-god Astraeus, Notus personified the south wind — the hot, wet wind that came in the season of the late harvest and brought with it the storms and rains of autumn. He was the wind that arose after the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, in the sultry late summer, and his breath was associated with the fogs, the mists and the destructive downpours that could ruin a ripe crop in an afternoon. He was imagined as a winged man pouring water from an urn or shaking rain from his garment.
Brother of the Winds
With Boreas (north), Zephyrus (west) and Eurus (east), Notus made up the four directional wind-gods who answered, in many tellings, to the wind-keeper Aeolus. Each had his own season and temper: where Boreas brought winter's cold and Zephyrus spring's mildness, Notus brought the heavy, humid storms of summer's end. He was a power both fruitful and ruinous — the same warm rains that filled the rivers could just as easily flood the fields and sink the ships.
The Storm-Bringer
To the Greek sailor, the rising of Notus was a warning: the south wind meant rough seas, sudden squalls and the dangerous weather of the closing sailing season. The Tower of the Winds in Athens, which honoured all the Anemoi, depicted Notus emptying a water-jar — the very emblem of the rain-laden storm wind. He represents the Greek understanding of the winds as gods of mood and consequence, each capable of blessing or disaster depending on his temper.
The Breath of the Storm
Notus endures as the personification of the south wind and the autumn storm — the hot, rain-bearing breath that could ripen or ruin. He embodies the double face of the warm wind: bringer of the rains that feed the harvest, and bringer of the tempests that destroy it.
When the south wind rose and the sky darkened over the sea, the Greeks knew the storm-god Notus was emptying his urn.