Volkswagen reckons its new coupe/cabriolet will lure people from their slumber, throwing open windows to embrace the day.

Something like that, anyway. The new model is called Eos, after the Greek goddess of the dawn. The Romans called her Aurora. Her tears are the morning dew.

Think of her as a working mum. Each day, Eos rose with her horse-drawn chariot from the depths of the sea to bring daylight to the world. That was after she got the morning star out of bed and told the wind to get a move on. The Greek gods had her down as mother of the star and wind, too.

She fixed breakfast, got the kids off to Homer's study group, and asked her husband Tithonus (she was stuck with a mortal man; it was Aphrodite's fault) to pick up the bread on his way home.

Then the day was hers. Washing, ironing, worming the dog, afternoon coffee with fellow goddesses, some gossip ...

At dusk, in the kitchen, Eos would crank up another light in the sky. Yep, she was mother of the evening star, too. She would watch it soar into the blue yonder while watching over dinner: roast goat over coals with lentils. Followed by bedtime stories from the Iliad for the kids. They liked the way Homer called their mum beautiful.

Then it was time for the man in her life. Tithonus was a waxmaker/repairman for the fledgling Icarus airline. There were problems with the wax-and-feather wings on trips to the sun. Next morning, Eos would start over again ...

The VW press release says the Eos cabriolet "evokes associations with an idealised cabriolet driving situation in the early minutes of a summer day".