The Clouds

The Clouds (Nephelai) were honoured as divine powers — the airy daughters of Ocean, bearers of the rain that the thundering Zeus sends down to quicken the earth. Drifting between heaven and earth, they carry the waters of the sky to nourish the fields and feed the rivers, and so sustain all growing things.

Their brief hymn salutes them as the wandering nurses of the world's fertility, the gentle messengers that veil the sun and break at last into the life-giving shower.