ÆO′LUS was the god of the winds. Jupiter was his reputed father, and
his mother is said to have been a daughter of Hippotus. Æolus is
represented as having the power of holding the winds confined in a
cavern, and occasionally giving them liberty to blow over the world.
So much command was he supposed to have over them that when Ulysses
visited him on his return from Troy he gave him, tied up in a bag,
all the winds that could prevent his voyage from being prosperous.
The companions of Ulysses, fancying that the bag contained treasure,
cut it open just as they came in sight of Ithaca, the port they were
making for, and the contrary winds rushing out drove back the ship many
leagues. The residence of Æolus was at Strongyle, now called Strombolo.
“Æolus from his airy throne
With power imperial curbs the struggling winds,
And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds.”