1916 Boreas a rotation period between 3.4741 and 3.49 hours with a brightness variation between 0.25 and 0.35 magnitude (). In 1994, astronomer Tom Gehrels estimated "Boreas" to measure 3.5 kilometers in diameter, based on an assumed albedo of 0.15. The "Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link" assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 3.07 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.93. This minor planet is named after the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas, as the asteroid was discovered moving rapidly northward after passing the ascending node of its orbit. The official naming citation was
Dragons in Greek mythology where it became the constellation Draco. Dragons in Greek mythology Dragons play a significant role in Greek mythology. The word dragon derives from the Greek δράκων (drakōn) and its Latin cognate draco. Ancient Greeks applied the term to large, constricting snakes. Daniel Ogden speaks of three ways to explain the origins of Greek dragon myths: as "vertical" evolution from (reconstructed) Proto-Indo-European mythology, as "horizontal" adaptation from Ancient Near Eastern mythology, or as sitting within "the cloud of international folktale". Regarding theories of vertical transmission, Ogden argues that they carry "an unspoken assumption that prior to such a transfer the Greeks'