Elemental Air was the combination of the qualities of "wet" and "hot", and possessed "lightness," which moved it upwards. It was situated between Water and Fire in the cosmos. Air is depicted here as a woman wearing flowing garments surrounded by birds in flight. The three icons surrounding the figure represent discoveries or inventions that harness the power of air including a bellows, sailboat, and windmill. Air could range from rare and tenuous to dense fog, suggesting to the Presocratic Greeks that it could account for all matter. It also symbolized the human soul and the breath of life. In early Greek medicine, blood was thought to be refreshed and invigorated by inhaled air in a series of "cookings" that took place within the heart. They and we see the global movements of air tied to the warming of the sun, something Aristotle called the "lesser circulation" to distinguish it from the revolutions of the celestial spheres. In addition to sustaining life, it was also harnessed to do work, as the several icons suggest.
