AEOLUS in Greek mythology, according to Homer the son of Hippotes, controller of the winds, and ruler of the floating island of Aeolia. In the Odyssey (x. 1 ) he entertains Odysseus, gives him a favourable wind, and a bag in which the unfavourable winds are confined. To see what it contains Odysseus' companions open the bag; the winds escape and drive them back to the island, whence Aeolus dismisses them with bitter reproaches. He has been identified with Zeus, and his six sons and six daughters with the 12 months. According to Virgil, Aeolus dwells on one of the Aeolian islands to the north of Sicily, Lipara or Strongyle (Stromboli), where he keeps the winds imprisoned in a vast cavern (Virgil, Aen. i. 52).