Goddess · Character in Homer’s Odyssey

Eos The Dawn

Rosy-fingered opener of days

Punctual through every delay; her rising is how the poem keeps time.

The dawn goddess whose rising opens nearly every day of the poem — rosy-fingered, golden-throned, named at least once in nearly every book. On the last night Athena holds her back at the ocean's rim, so that Odysseus and Penelope can have their fill of each other and of their stories.

Bonds

• Helios brother of Eos — dawn and sun, children of one Titan

Appears in

• Book II Departure of Telemachus from Ithaca
• Book III Interview of Telemachus with Nestor
• Book IV Conference of Telemachus and Menelaus
• Book V Departure of Odysseus from Calypso
• Book VIII Festivals in Honor of Odysseus
• Book IX The Ciconians, Lotus-Eaters, and Cyclops
• Book X Aeolus, the Laestrigonians, and Circè
• Book XII The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis
• Book XIII Arrival of Odysseus at Ithaca
• Book XIV Meeting of Odysseus and Eumaeus
• Book XV Return of Telemachus
• Book XVII Return of Odysseus to His Palace
• Book XVIII Combat of Odysseus and Irus
• Book XIX Odysseus Recognized by Eurycleia
• Book XX The Last Banquet of the Suitors
• Book XXII Death of the Suitors
• Book XXIII Odysseus and Penelope After the Slaughter

Scenes

1. Council Convenes — Book II. Telemachus calls Ithaca’s first council
2. Landing at Pylos — Book III. Telemachus, Mentor arrive at Poseidon’s rite
3. Ordering the Sacrifice — Book III. Nestor orders heifer gilded for Athena
4. Chariot to Sparta — Book III. Nestor yokes chariot for Sparta
5. Peisistratus Confirms His Friend — Book IV. Peisistratus confirms him, talk draws tears
6. Grief Set Aside — Book IV. Peisistratus asks to postpone sorrow
7. A Night’s Rest — Book IV. Telemachus retires, Menelaus rises at dawn
8. Snaring Proteus — Book IV. In sealskins, Menelaus seizes Proteus
9. Odysseus on Calypso’s Isle — Book IV. Odysseus weeps, Menelaus promised Elysium
10. Gods Debate Odysseus’ Fate — Book V. Athena pleads, Zeus sends Hermes
11. Calypso Protests, Then Yields — Book V. Calypso protests, yields to Zeus
12. Building and Launching the Raft — Book V. Odysseus builds raft, sails to Phaeacia
13. Adrift Off a Rocky Coast — Book V. Odysseus drifts, sights Phaeacia’s cliffs
14. Assembly Convened — Book VIII. Herald Athena summons chiefs
15. Storm and the Lotus-eaters — Book IX. Blown to Lotus-eaters, scouts drugged
16. The Cyclops’ shores — Book IX. Crew hunts wild goats by day
17. Escape beneath the rams — Book IX. Crew slips past Polyphemus under rams
18. Funeral and Return — Book XII. Crew buries Elpenor, Circè arrives
19. Landing at Ithaca — Book XIII. Sailors leave sleeping Odysseus with treasure
20. Ordering the Bath — Book XIX. Penelope orders a bath, he wants an elder
21. The Scar’s Origin — Book XIX. Eurycleia recalls a boar gashing his leg
22. Dawn prayer for a sign — Book XX. Odysseus prays to Zeus for a homecoming sign
23. Penelope Embraces Him — Book XXIII. Convinced, Penelope embraces Odysseus
24. Departure for the Farm — Book XXIII. Odysseus arms at dawn, departs with herdsmen

Eos is named in 40 of the poem’s scenes; these are the twenty-four that carry the most of the name.

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