Dawn

In Greek mythology Dawn or Eos (Ηως in Greek) is a Goddess that rises each morning from her home the Ocean (Οκεανος).  In the Homeric Hymn to Helios, we are told that Hyperion married  Eryphaesa, and begot tireless Helios (the Sun), rosy Eos (the Dawn) and fair tressed Selene (the Moon).  Dawn appears as many as twenty times in The Odyssey, and the poem repeats similar descriptions of her such as “But when early-born rosy-fingered Dawn appeared…”  Book Eight first lines read When young Dawn with her red-rose fingers shone once more, the royal Alcinous, hallowed island king, rose from bed and great Odysseus, raider of cities, rose too. A There are many similar expressions in Homeric verse, which suggest that different things will happen every day, but Dawn always appears early and always with her rosy fingers.

The Greek Goddess Eos in her Chariot ready for another day of travel.  Edifice found in Herculaneum

Sunrise in our little paradise on earth Porto Rafti: the Homeric expression “when newborn Dawn appeared with rosy fingers…” describes our feelings when we see Eos. At dawn the hue of the sea becomes pink.  The waves become placid and their phosphoresce reflects shades of a red carnation. Όλος ο γιαλός ροδίζει γύρω. Τα κύματα φρικιούν ήρεμα, και το φωσφόρισμά των ανταυγάζει αποχρώσεις ερυθρού γαροφάλλου..." Παπαδιαμαντης

Sunrise in Ukraine; the Homeric expression “when the early Dawn was born; her fingers bloomed” is most appropriate.

The golden throne of Dawn was riding up the sky… and brought a beautiful day… in frozen Lake Baikal.

Aurora, ceiling fresco by Guido Reni (1613) Picture from Encyclopedia Brittanica

Dawn of a New Day and a New Year

The games were over now. The gathered armies scattered,
each man to his fast ship, and fighters turned their minds
to thoughts of food and the sweet warm grip of sleep.

But Achilles kept on grieving for his friend,
the memory burning on . . .
and all-subduing sleep could not take him,
not now, he turned and twisted, side to side,
he longed for Patroclus' manhood, his gallant heart.

What rough campaigns they'd fought to an end together,
what hardships they had suffered, cleaving their way
through wars of men and pounding waves at sea.

The memories flooded over him, live tears flowing,
and now he'd lie on his side, now flat on his back,
now facedown again. At last he'd leap to his feet,
wander in anguish, aimless along the surf, 

until dawn appeared with her rosy finger flaming over the sea and shore 

would find him pacing.

 from Homer’s Iliad Book XXIV 

Parker Solar Probe acquired the first ever photo taken from inside the sun’s corona. The bright streak is a coronal streamer. Up to now, all photos of the sun have been taken from a great distance, either from ground or from telescopes in space given the sun’s extreme heat. The sun is a magnificent, hot, glowing ball of gas with its enormous hot plasma and bright coronal streamers streaking out into the surrounding blackness that matches Homer’s magnificent descriptions of sun’s rays at Dawn in both the Iliad and Odyssey. 

Today, at the dawn of the New Year, my favorite description of Dawn by Homer is… Dawn appeared with her rosy fingers.  I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Ceres

Today on March 6, 2015 the spacecraft Dawn launched by NASA in 2007 reached the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is the first mission to use ion propulsion to travel the 3 billion miles distance to Ceres.  Ceres was discovered in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi. Ceres is so large that it encompasses about one-fourth of the estimated total mass of all the asteroids in the asteroid belt. Today, it’s classified as a dwarf planet.

Ceres is the only one of Rome's many agricultural deities.  The Romans saw her as the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter, whose mythology and cult was introduced in the Roman art and literature.  Ceres was credited with the discovery of wheat (Latin far), the yoking of oxen and ploughing, the sowing, protection and nourishing of the young seed, and the gift of agriculture to humankind.

As much of Rome's grain was imported from territories of Magna Graecia, Romans considered Sicily as Ceres' "earthly home".  From the end of the 3rd century BC, Demeter's temple at Enna, served both deities and was considered as Ceres' oldest, and most important cult center.