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Aura, in ancient Greek and ancient Roman religion, is the divine personification of the breeze. The plural form, Aurae, "Breezes," is often found. The ''velificatio'', a billowing garment that forms an arch overhead, is the primary attribute by which an Aura can be identified in art. A pair of ''velificantes'' (figures framed by a ''velificatio'') that appear on the Augustan Altar of Peace have sometimes been identified as Aurae.〔Paul Zanker, ''The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus'' (University of Michigan Press, 1988, 1990), pp. 240–241.〕 Pliny describes statues of the Aurae ''velificantes sua veste'', "making a sail with their garment," at the Porticus Octaviae in Rome.〔Pliny, ''Natural History'' 36.29.〕 Aurae can resemble Nereids, from whom they are distinguishable mainly by the absence of marine imagery.〔Babette Stanley Spaeth, "The Goddess Ceres in the Ara Pacis Augustae and the Carthage Relief," ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 98 (1994), pp. 77–78.〕 The Augustan poet Ovid introduces Aura into the tragic story of Cephalus and Procris, playing on the verbal similarity of Aura and Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn who was the counterpart of Greek Eos.〔Ovid, ''Ars Amatoria'' 3.687–746 and ''Metamorphoses'' 7.672–862; Peter Green, ''From Ikaria to the Stars: Classical Mythification, Ancient and Modern'' (University of Texas Press, 2004), pp. 253–254. See also Servius, note to ''Aeneid'' 6.445.〕 The ''Dionysiaca'' of Nonnus (early 5th century) presents the most extended mythology of Aura, though Nonnus is both late and idiosyncratic. In the ''Dionysiaca'', Aura was the daughter of Lelantos and Periboa and mother of Iacchus by Dionysus. Aurae are also said to partially resemble ghosts, and can become part of the breeze, or can prevent it. They appear to disappear into the air, which, along with the fact that they glide, is why they are often mistaken for spirits of the departed. They are also said to sometimes work with Aeolus, Master of Winds, and are the more gentle cousins of the Harpies. ==See also== * Aurai 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Aura (mythology)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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