Metamorphoses · Chapter
Boreas in Love explained
Boreas, the North Wind, falls in love with Orithyia, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens.
What happens
Boreas, the North Wind, falls in love with Orithyia, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens. After being rejected due to her father's preference for Tereus, Boreas abandons gentle courtship and uses his violent powers to carry her off. Orithyia becomes the mother of Zethes and Calais, twins who later join Jason's Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Desire
Boreas's passionate but unrequited love for Orithyia drives him to forceful abduction.
Violence and Revenge
Boreas resorts to violent force when his gentle courtship fails, using his powers to abduct Orithyia.
Transformation and Metamorphosis
Zethes and Calais develop wings as they mature, a physical transformation inherited from their father.
Characters to notice
- Boreas
The North Wind who falls in love with Orithyia and abducts her after being rejected.
- Orithyia
Daughter of Erechtheus, carried off by Boreas against her will.
- Erechtheus
King of Athens, father of Orithyia, who opposes Boreas's suit.
- Procris
Sister of Orithyia, married to Cephalus.
- Cephalus
Husband of Procris.
- Tereus
Thracian neighbor of Erechtheus, a reason for Orithyia's rejection of Boreas.
- Jason
Leader of the Argonauts, with whom Zethes and Calais sail.
Key passages
“Boreas is enamoured of the beautiful Orithyia, whom he carries off against her inclination”
Boreas falls in love with Orithyia and abducts her against her will.
Opening summary of the chapter's central event.
“By force and violence I chiefly live, By them the low'ring stormy tempests drive, In foaming billows raise the hoary deep, Writhe knotted oaks, and sandy deserts sweep”
Boreas declares that force and violence are his true nature, used to stir storms, raise waves, uproot trees, and sweep deserts.
Boreas's boastful speech justifying his use of force.
“Two lovely twins, the effect of this embrace, Crown their soft labours, and their nuptials grace, Who, like their mother, beautiful and fair, Their father's strength, and feather'd pinions, share”
The union produces twin sons, Zethes and Calais, who inherit their mother's beauty and their father's strength and wings.
Description of the twins born from Boreas and Orithyia.