Classical compass winds ("ζέφυρος") from the west – were added soon enough. The etymology of the names of the four archaic Greek winds is uncertain. Among tentative propositions is that "Boreas" might come from "boros", an old variant of "oros" (Greek for "mountains", which were to the north geographically). An alternative hypothesis is that it may come from "boros" meaning "voracious". Another is that it comes from the phrase "ἀπὸ τῆς βοῆς" ("from the roar"), a reference to its violent and loud noise. "Notos" probably comes from "notios" ("moist", a reference to the warm rains and storms brought from the south). "Eurus" and
Greek mythology libretti for many of Handel's and Mozart's operas. By the end of the 18th century, Romanticism initiated a surge of enthusiasm for all things Greek, including Greek mythology. In Britain, new translations of Greek tragedies and Homer inspired contemporary poets (such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Keats, Byron and Shelley) and painters (such as Lord Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema). Christoph Gluck, Richard Strauss, Jacques Offenbach and many others set Greek mythological themes to music. American authors of the 19th century, such as Thomas Bulfinch and Nathaniel Hawthorne, held that the study of the classical myths was essential to the understanding of