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In Greek mythology, Caerus (Greek: Καιρός, Kairos, the same as kairos) In Greek mythology, Caerus /ˈsɪərəs, ˈsiːrəs/ (Greek: Καιρός, Kairos, the same as kairos) was the personification of opportunity, luck and favorable moments. Caerus is the due measure that achieves the aim. This god brings about what is convenient, fit, and comes in the right moment. Sometimes it could be the critical or dangerous moment, but more often Caerus represents the advantageous, or favorable occasion. Caerus is always running because he is afraid to be caught by mortals who do not deserve what he offers.

Appearance
Caerus is depicted as a young and beautiful god male, because opportunity never gets old, and that beauty is always an opportunity. He has one lock of hair dangling from his forehead by which a passerby can “seize” an opportunity. However the rest of his head is shorn or bald because once he, or an opportunity, has passed, there is no way to grasp it. The moment of action is gone with his hair: a neglected occasion cannot be recovered. Caerus stands on tiptoe because he is always running, and like Hermes, he has wings in his feet to fly with the wind. He holds a razor, or else scales balanced on a sharp edge—attributes that illustrate the fleeting instant in which occasions appear and disappear.

Other Names

 * His Roman equivaelent was Occasio or Tempus: Disticha Catonis II, 26 refers to the Latin concept of Occasio (a female word which can be considered as a literal translation of the Greek Caerus) in these terms: "Rem tibi quam scieris aptam dimittere noli: fronte capillata, post haec occasio calva", which means "Don't let that what you consider good for you escape by; chance has hair over her forehead, but behind she's bald".
 * The phonetic spelling of Caerus is Kairos, and the god is sometimes referred to as such.

Sculptures and Reliefs
And his name? Lysippos. And who are you? Time who subdues all things. Why do you stand on tip-toe? I am ever running. And why you have a pair of wings on your feet? I fly with the wind. And why do you hold a razor in your right hand? As a sign to men that I am sharper than any sharp edge. And why does your hair hang over your face? For him who meets me to take me by the forelock. And why, in Heaven's name, is the back of your head bald? Because none whom I have once raced by on my winged feet will now, though he wishes it sore, take hold of me from behind.  Why did the artist fashion you? For your sake, stranger, and he set me up in the porch as a lesson."''
 * A bronze statue of Kairos is known in literature, made by the famous Greek sculptor Lysippos. It stood at his home, in the Agora of Hellenistic Sikyon. The following epigram by Poseidippos was carved on the statue: ''"Who and whence was the sculptor? From Sikyon.
 * In Trogir (the ancient Roman Tragurium), Croatia, in the Convent of the Benedictine Nuns, was displayed a marble bas-relief of Kairos from the 3rd century B.C., as a young man, running. The bas-relief is now kept at the Municipal Museum of Trogir.
 * A relief of Caerus (made around AD 160) is kept at the Museum of Antiquities of Turin (Italy).
 * Another relief was kept (now lost) at Palazzo Medici in Florence.
 * An onyx gem (originally from the collection of the Duc de Blacas, 1st-2nd century AD) with an incision of the god Tempus/Kairos is kept now at the British Museum.
 * A marble relief showing Kairos, Bios (the Life), and Metanoia (Afterthought, the female Latin Paenitentia) is in the cathedral of Torcello (11th century).
 * A monochrome fresco by Mantegna at Palazzo Ducale in Mantua (about 1510) shows a female Kairos (most probably Occasio) with a young man trying to catch her and a woman representing Paenitentia.

Literature and Written Works

 * Written work by John Tzetzes includes the concept of Caerus and description of the god's physical features.
 * Himerius, a Greek sophist and rhetorician, spoke of Caerus.
 * Disticha Catonis II, 26 refer to the Latin concept of Occasio (a female word which can be considered as a literal translation of the Greek Kairos) in these terms: "Rem tibi quam scieris aptam dimittere noli: fronte capillata, post haec occasio calva", which means "Don't let that what you consider good for you escape by; chance has hair over her forehead, but behind she's bald".
 * Phaedrus (V,8) has a similar writing and he himself admits that the theme was not his own but more ancient.
 * Callistratus (Descriptions, 6) has a long text describing the statue by Lysippos.
 * Carmina Burana 16, a famous poem about Fortune, mentions Kairos in this way: "verum est quod legitur, fronte capillata, sed plerumque sequitur occasio calvata"; which means "As it is read, it is true that that a forehead may have hair, but it is usually followed by the arrival of baldness".