Cool Greek Mythology Who Causes Northern Lights References. Web galileo gallilee witnessed the northern lights in 1621 and coined the phrase aurora borealis (aurora for goddess of the dawn, borealis for the greek god of the north wind), but he thought it was caused by sunlight reflecting off the earth’s atmosphere. That the movement and twisting that the lights make are the spirits chasing after a ball and playing.
The roman goddess of the dawn (analogous to the greek goddess eos, the germanic ēostre, the irish brigid, etc.), aurora is the sister of sol and luna, and early each day she races across the sky, dressed in saffron, heralding the arrival of her brother, the sun. Web while the scientific explanation of the norther lights, or aurora borealis, is around electrons from the sun that interact with the gas particles in the atmosphere to produces light, the folklore from various cultures is much more mythical and magical. Web the ancient greeks and romans believed that every day aurora raced across the sky in her chariot, alerting her brother and sister to the breaking of the new day.
