Aurora (mythology) facts for kids
- The beautiful lights you sometimes see in the sky are called Auroras.
Aurora was an important ancient Roman goddess. She was known as the goddess of the dawn. Her name, Aurora, is the Latin word for dawn. She is very similar to the goddess Eos in Greek mythology.
Every morning, Aurora renews herself and flies across the sky. She announces the arrival of the new day. She has a brother, the sun, and a sister, the moon. She also had many husbands and four sons, one for each main direction: North, East, South, and West.
Aurora is like Eos in Greek mythology and Ushas in Hindu mythology.
Aurora and Tithonus
One of Aurora's lovers was a man named Tithonus. Aurora loved him very much. She asked the powerful god Zeus to make Tithonus immortal. This meant he would live forever. However, Aurora forgot to ask Zeus to also make Tithonus stay young forever.
Because of this, Tithonus kept getting older and older. He aged eternally, but he could never die. This story teaches us to be careful what we wish for!
Aurora in Space
An asteroid discovered in space was named 94 Aurora after the Roman goddess.
Images for kids
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Apollo and Aurōra, 1671 by Gerard de Lairesse
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Aurōra Heralding the Arrival of the Morning Sun, c. 1765, by François Boucher
See also
In Spanish: Aurora (mitología) para niños