Nymph

A nymph (Greek: νύμφη, nýmphē; Ancient: [nýmpʰɛː], Modern: [nímfi]) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typically tied to a specific place or landform, and are usually depicted as beautiful maidens. They were not necessarily immortal, but lived much longer than humans before they died.[1]

This article is about the creatures of Greek mythology. For other uses, see Nymph (disambiguation).

Nymph

In this 1896 painting of Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse, Hylas is abducted by the Naiads, I.e. fresh water nymphs
Grouping	Mythological
Sub grouping	Nature spirit
Country	Greece

They are often divided into various broad subgroups, such as the Meliae (ash tree nymphs), the Naiads (freshwater nymphs), the Nereids (sea nymphs), and the Oreads (mountain nymphs).[2]

Nymphs often feature in many classic works of art, literature, mythology, and fiction. Since medieval times, nymphs are sometimes popularly associated or even confused with fairies.

Mosaic, Satyr & Nymph, from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples

Etymology

The Greek word νύμφη has the primary meaning of "young woman; bride, young wife" but is not usually associated with deities in particular. Yet the etymology of the noun νύμφη remains uncertain. The Doric and Aeolic (Homeric) form is νύμφα.

Modern usage more often applies to young women at the peak of their attractiveness, contrasting with parthenos (παρθένος) "a virgin (of any age)", and generically as kore (κόρη < κόρϝα) "maiden, girl". The term is sometimes used by women to address each other and remains the regular Modern Greek term for "bride".

Ancient Greek mythology

Nymphs were sometimes beloved by many and dwelt in specific areas related to the natural environment, e.g. mountainous regions, forests, springs. Other nymphs were part of the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally the huntress Artemis.[3]

The Greek nymphs were also spirits invariably bound to places, not unlike the Latin genius loci, and sometimes this produced complicated myths like the cult of Arethusa to Sicily. In some of the works of the Greek-educated Latin poets, the nymphs gradually absorbed into their ranks the indigenous Italian divinities of springs and streams (Juturna, Egeria, Carmentis, Fontus) while the Lymphae (originally Lumpae), Italian water goddesses, owing to the accidental similarity of their names, could be identified with the Greek Nymphae. The classical mythologies of the Roman poets were unlikely to have affected the rites and cults of individual nymphs venerated by country people in the springs and clefts of Latium. Among the Roman literate class, their sphere of influence was restricted and they appear almost exclusively as divinities of the watery element.

Greek folk religion

The ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country into the early years of the twentieth century when they were usually known as "nereids".[4] Often nymphs tended to frequent areas distant from humans but could be encountered by lone travelers outside the village, where their music might be heard, and the traveler could spy on their dancing or bathing in a stream or pool, either during the noon heat or in the middle of the night. They might appear in a whirlwind. Such encounters could be dangerous, bringing dumbness, besotted infatuation, madness or stroke to the unfortunate human. When parents believed their child to be nereid-struck, they would pray to Saint Artemidos.[5][6]

Nymphs and fairies

Nymphs often feature or are depicted in many classic works across art, literature, mythology, and fiction. They are often associated with the medieval romances or Renaissance literature of the elusive fairies or elves.[7][8]

Sleeping nymph

A motif that entered European art during the Renaissance was the idea of a statue of a nymph sleeping in a grotto or spring.[9][10][11] This motif supposedly came from an Italian report of a Roman sculpture of a nymph at a fountain above the River Danube.[12] The report, and an accompanying poem supposedly on the fountain describing the sleeping nymph, are now generally concluded to be a fifteenth-century forgery, but the motif proved influential among artists and landscape gardeners for several centuries after, with copies seen at neoclassical gardens such as the grotto at Stourhead.[13][14][15]

List

All the names for various classes of nymphs have plural feminine adjectives, most agreeing with the substantive numbers and groups of nymphai. There is no single adopted classification that could be seen as canonical and exhaustive.[16] Some classes of nymphs tend to overlap, which complicates the task of precise classification. e.g. Dryads and hamadryads as nymphs of trees generally, meliai as nymphs of ash trees, and naiads as nymphs of water, but no others specifically.[16]

By type of dwelling

The following is not the authentic Greek classification, but is intended simply as a guide:

Classification by type of dwelling

Type / Group / Individuals	Location	Relations and Notes
Celestial nymphs
Aurae (breezes)		also called Aetae or Pnoae
Asteriae (stars)		mainly comprising the Atlantides (daughters of Atlas)
1. Hesperides	Far West	nymphs of the sunset, the West, and the evening; daughters of Atlas; also had attributes of the Hamadryads
• Aegle
• Arethusa
• Erytheia (or Eratheis)
• Hesperia (or Hispereia)
2. Hyades (star cluster; sent rain)
3. Pleiades		daughters of Atlas and Pleione; constellation; also were classed as Oreads
• Maia		partner of Zeus and mother of Hermes
• Electra
• Taygete
• Alcyone
• Celaeno
• Asterope
• Merope
Nephele (clouds)
Land nymphs
Alseides (groves)
Auloniades (valley pastures, glens)
Leimakides or Leimonides (meadows)
Napaeae (dells)
Oreads (mountains, grottoes), also Orodemniades
Wood and plant nymphs
Anthousai (flowers)
Dryades (trees)
Hamadryades or Hadryades
1. Daphnaeae (laurel tree)
2. Epimeliades or Epimelides (apple tree; also protected flocks)		other name variants include Meliades, Maliades and Hamameliades; same as these are also the Boucolai (Pastoral Nymphs)
3. Kissiae (ivy)
4. Meliae (manna-ash tree)
Hyleoroi (watchers of woods)
Water nymphs (Hydriades or Ephydriades)
Haliae (sea and seashores)
1. Nereids (50 daughters of Nereus, the Mediterranean Sea)
Naiads or Naides (fresh water)
1. Crinaeae (fountains)
2. Eleionomae (wetlands)
3. Limnades or Limnatides (lakes)
4. Pegaeae (springs)
5. Potameides (rivers)
• Tágides (Tagus River)
Oceanids		daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, any freshwater, typically clouds and rain. see List of Oceanids
Underworld nymphs
Lampades		torch bearers in the retinue of Hecate
• Orphne		is a representation of the darkness of the river Styx, the river of hatred, but is not to be confused with the goddess Styx herself, but she is associated with both Styx and Nyx. She is the consort of Acheron, (the god of the river in Hades), and the mother of Ascalaphus, (the orchardist of Hades).
• Leuce (white poplar tree)		lover of Hades
• Minthe (mint)		lover of Hades, rival of Persephone
• Melinoe		Orphic nymph, daughter of Persephone and "Zeus disguised as Pluto".[17] Her name is a possible epithet of Hecate.
Other nymphs
Hecaterides (rustic dance)		sisters of the Dactyls, mothers of the Oreads and the Satyrs
Kabeirides		sisters of the Kabeiroi
Maenads or Bacchai or Bacchantes		frenzied nymphs in the retinue of Dionysus
1. Lenai (wine-press)
2. Mimallones (music)
3. Naides (Naiads)
4. Thyiai or Thyiades (thyrsus bearers)
Melissae (honey)		likely a subgroup of Oreades or Epimelides

By location

The following is a list of groups of nymphs associated with this or that particular location. Nymphs in such groupings could belong to any of the classes mentioned above (Naiades, Oreades, and so on).

Location-specific groupings of nymphs

Groups and Individuals	Location	Relations and Notes
Aeaean Nymphs	Aeaea Island	handmaidens of Circe
Aegaeides	Aegaeus River on the island of Scheria
Aesepides	Aesepus River in Anatolia
• Abarbarea
Acheloides	Achelous River
• Callirhoe, second wife of Alcmaeon
Acmenes	Stadium in Olympia, Elis
Amnisiades	Amnisos River on the island of Crete	entered the retinue of Artemis
Anigrides	Anigros River in Elis	believed to cure skin diseases
Asopides	Asopus River in Sicyonia and Boeotia
• Aegina	Island of Aegina	mother of Menoetius by Actor, and Aeacus by Zeus
• Asopis
• Chalcis	Chalcis, Euboea	regarded as the mother of the Curetes and Corybantes; perhaps the same as Combe and Euboea below
• Cleone	Cleonae, Argos
• Combe	Island of Euboea	consort of Socus and mother by him of the seven Corybantes
• Corcyra	Island of Corcyra	mother of Phaiax by Poseidon
• Euboea	Island of Euboea	abducted by Poseidon
• Gargaphia or Plataia or Oeroe	Plataea, Boeotia	carried off by Zeus
• Harmonia	a nymph of the Akmonian Wood, near Themiscyra	mother of the Amazons by Ares[18][19]
• Harpina	Pisa, Elis	mother of Oenomaus by Ares
• Ismene	Ismenian spring of Thebes, Boeotia	wife of Argus, eponymous king of Argus and thus, mother of Argus Panoptes and Iasus.
• Nemea	Nemea, Argolis	others called her the daughter of Zeus and Selene
• Ornea	Ornia, Sicyon
• Peirene	Corinth	others called her father to be Oebalus or Achelous by Poseidon she became the mother of Lecheas and Cenchrias
• Salamis	Island of Salamis	mother of Cychreus by Poseidon
• Sinope	Sinope, Anatolia	mother of Syrus by Apollo
• Tanagra	Tanagra, Boeotia	mother of Leucippus and Ephippus by Poemander
• Thebe	Thebes, Boeotia	wife of Zethus and also said to have consorted with Zeus
• Themis	Arcadia	She had a son with Hermes, called Evander. Her son was the founder of the Pallantium. Pallantium became one of the cities that was merged later into the ancient Rome. Romans called her, Carmenta.[20]
• Thespeia	Thespia, Boeotia	abducted by Apollo
Astakides	Lake Astacus, Bithynia	appeared in the myth of Nicaea
• Nicaea
Asterionides	Asterion River, Argos	daughters of the river god Asterion; nurses of the infant goddess Hera
• Acraea	ditto
• Euboea	ditto
• Prosymna	ditto
Carian Naiades (Caria)
• Salmacis
Nymphs of Ceos
Corycian Nymphs (Corycian Cave)	Corycian cave, Delphi, Phocis	daughters of the river god Pleistos
• Kleodora (or Cleodora)	Mt. Parnassus, Phocis	mother of Parnassus by Poseidon
• Corycia	Corycian cave, Delphi, Phocis	mother of Lycoreus by Apollo
• Daphnis
• Melaina	ditto	mother of Delphos by Apollo
Cydnides	River Cydnus in Cilicia
Cyrenaean Nymphs	City of Cyrene, Libya
Cypriae Nymphs	Island of Cyprus
Cyrtonian Nymphs	Town of Cyrtone, Boeotia	Κυρτωνιαι
Deliades	Island of Delos	daughters of Inopus, god of the river Inopus
Dodonides	Oracle at Dodona
Erasinides	Erasinos River, Argos	daughters of the river god Erasinos; attendants of the goddess Britomartis.
• Anchiroe	ditto
• Byze	ditto
• Maera	ditto
• Melite	ditto
Nymphs of the river Granicus
• Alexirhoe
• Pegasis
Heliades	River Eridanos	daughters of Helios who were changed into trees
Himeriai Naiades	Local springs at the town of Himera, Sicily
Hydaspides	Hydaspers River, India	nurses of infant Zagreus
Idaean Nymphs	Mount Ida	nurses of infant Zeus
• Ida
• Adrasteia
Inachides	Inachos River, Argos	daughters of the river god Inachus
• Io	ditto	mother of Epaphus by Zeus
• Amymone	ditto
• Philodice	ditto	wife of Leucippus of Messenia by whom she became the mother of Hilaeira, Phoebe and possibly Arsinoe
• Messeis	ditto
• Hyperia	ditto
• Mycene	ditto	wife of Arestor and by him probably the mother of Argus Panoptes; eponym of Mycenae
Ionides	Kytheros River in Elis	daughters of the river god Cytherus
• Calliphaea	ditto
• Iasis	ditto
• Pegaea	ditto
• Synallaxis	ditto
Ithacian Nymphs	Local springs and caves on the island of Ithaca
Ladonides	Ladon River
Lamides or Lamusides	Lamos River in Cilicia	possible nurses of infant Dionysus
Leibethrides	Mounts Helicon and Leibethrios in Boeotia; or Mount Leibethros in Thrace)
• Libethrias
• Petra
Lelegeides	Lycia, Anatolia
Lycaean Nymphs	Mount Lycaeus	nurses of infant Zeus, perhaps a subgroup of the Oceanides
Melian Nymphs	Island of Melos	transformed into frogs by Zeus; not to be confused with the Meliae (ash tree nymphs
Mycalessides	Mount Mycale in Caria, Anatolia
Mysian Nymphs	Spring of Pegai near Lake Askanios in Bithynia	who abducted Hylas
• Euneica
• Malis
• Nycheia
Naxian Nymphs	Mount Drios on the island of Naxos	nurses of infant Dionysus; were syncretized with the Hyades
• Cleide
• Coronis
• Philia
Neaerides	Thrinacia Island	daughters of Helios and Neaera, watched over Helios' cattle
Nymphaeides	Nymphaeus River in Paphlagonia
Nysiads	Mount Nysa	nurses of infant Dionysos, identified with Hyades
Ogygian Nymphs	Island of Ogygia	four handmaidens of Calypso
Ortygian Nymphs	Local springs of Syracuse, Sicily	named for the island of Ortygia
Othreides	Mount Othrys	a local group of Hamadryads
Pactolides	Pactolus River
• Euryanassa, wife of Tantalus
Pelionides	Mount Pelion	nurses of the Centaurs
Phaethonides		a synonym for the Heliades
Phaseides	Phasis River
Rhyndacides	Rhyndacus River in Mysia
Sithnides	Fountain at the town of Megara
Spercheides	River Spercheios	one of them, Diopatra, was loved by Poseidon and the others were changed by him into trees
Sphragitides, or Cithaeronides	Mount Cithaeron
Tagids, Tajids, Thaejids or Thaegids	River Tagus in Portugal and Spain
Thessalides	Peneus River in Thessaly
Thriae	Mount Parnassos	prophets and nurses of Apollo
Trojan Nymphs	Local springs of Troy

Others

The following is a selection of names of the nymphs whose class was not specified in the source texts. For lists of Naiads, Oceanids, Dryades etc. see respective articles.

Individual names of some of the nymphs

Names	Location	Relations and Notes
Alphesiboea	India	loved by Dionysus
Aora		eponym of the town Aoros in Crete[21]
Areia	Crete	daughter of Cleochus and mother of Miletus by Apollo[22]
Astyoche		one of the Danaïdes, and the mother of Chrysippus by Pelops.[23]
Axioche or Danais		mother of Chrysippus by Pelops
Brettia		eponym of Abrettene, Mysia[24]
Brisa		brought up the god Dionysus[25]
Calybe	Troy	mother of Bucolion, Laomedon'
Chalcea		mother of Olympus by Zeus[26]
Chania		a lover of Heracles
Chariclo		mother of Tiresias by Everes
Charidia		mother of Alchanus by Zeus[26]
Chryse	Lemnos	fell in love with Philoctetes[27]
Cirrha		eponym of Cirrha in Phocis[28]
Clymene		mother of Tlesimenes by Parthenopaeus
Cretheis		briefly mentioned in Suda[29]
Crimisa		eponym of a city in Italy[30]
Deiopea		one of Hera's nymphs who was promised to Aeolus
Dodone	Dodona	eponym of Dodona
Echemeia		spelled "Ethemea" by Hyginus, consort of Merops
Eidothea	Mt. Othrys	mother by Eusiros of Cerambus[31]
Eunoe		possible mother of Hecuba by Dymas
Eunoste	Boeotia (possibly)	nurse of Eunostus
Euryte	Athens	mother of Halirrhothius by Poseidon[32]
Hegetoria	Rhodes	consort of Ochimus
Himalia		mother of Cronius, Spartaios, and Cytos by Zeus
Hyale		belongs to the train of Artemis
Hyllis	Argos	possible eponym of the tribe Hylleis and the city Hylle[33]
Idaea	Crete	mother of Cres[34] and Asterion[26] by Zeus
Idaea	Mt. Ida, Troad	mother of Teucer by Scamander
Ithome	Messenia	one of the nurses of Zeus
Laodice	Argolis (possibly)	mother of Apis by Phoroneus
Leucophryne	Magnesia (possibly)	priestess of Artemis Leucophryne
Ligeia
Linos		mother of Pelops by Atlas in some accounts[35]
Lotis		pursued by Priapus and was changed into a tree that bears her name
Ma		nymph in the suite of Rhea who nursed Zeus
Melanippe	Attica (possibly)	married Itonus, son of Amphictyon.[36]
Melissa		nurse of Zeus
Mendeis		consort of Sithon
Menodice		daughter of Orion and mother of Hylas by Theiodamas
Myrmex	Attica	beloved companion of Athena whom she turned into an ant[37]
Nacole		eponym of Nacoleia in Phrygia[38]
Neaera	Thrinacia	mother of Lampetia and Phaethusa by Helios
Neaera		mother of Aegle by Zeus[39]
Neaera	Lydia	mother of Dresaeus by Theiodamas[40]
Nymphe	Samothrace	mother of Saon by Zeus
Oeneis		mother of Pan by Hermes
Oinoie		mother of Sicinus by Thoas
Olbia	Bithynia	mother of Astacus by Poseidon
Paphia		possibly the mother of Cinyras by Eurymedon
Pareia		mother of four sons by Minos
Polydora		one of the Danaïdes
Pyronia		mother of Iasion by Minos
Psalacantha		changed into a plant by Dionysus
Rhene	Mount Cyllene	consorted with both Hermes and Oileus
Semestra		nurse of Keroessa
Sinoe	Arcadia	nurse of Pan
Teledice		a consort of Phoroneus
Thalia	Sicily (probably)	mother of the Palici by Zeus
Thisbe	Boeotia	eponym of the town of Thisbe
Tithorea	Mt. Parnassus	eponym of the town of Tithorea (previously called Neon)

In non-Greek tales influenced by Greek mythology

• Sabrina (the river Severn)

Gallery

• 
  Echo, an Oread (mountain nymph) watches Narcissus in this 1903 painting of Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse.
• 
  Hylas and nymphs from a mosaic in Roman Gaul (3rd century)
• 
  Public sex between a nymph and Satyr. A sketch of Agostino Carracci.
• 
  Nymphe et satyr - Nicolas Poussin - Musée Pouchkine Moscou
• 
  Nymphe et Saty (Alexandre Cabanel) 1860
• 
  Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, The Souls of Acheron (1898).
• 
  Naiad by Henri Fantin-Latour.
• 
  The Pleiades (1885) by Elihu Vedder.
• 
  The Cave of the Storm Nymphs by Sir Edward John Poynter
• 
  Nymphe by Gaston Bussière
• 
  Sátiro y ninfa Fight between Nymph and Satyr, Naples National Archaeological Museum.
• 
  A Sleeping Nymph Watched by a Shepherd by Angelica Kauffman, about 1780, (V&A Museum no. 23-1886)
• 
  The statue of a sleeping nymph in a grotto at Stourhead, England.

See also

• Animism
• Apsaras
• Kami
• Houri
• List of Greek mythological figures
• Nymphaeum
• Pitsa panels
• Rå
• Yakshini

References

1. Parad, Carlos; Förlag, Maicar (1997). "Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology: Nymphs". Astrom Editions. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
2. Grimal, p. 313, s.v. Nymphs.
3. Larson, Jennifer (1997). "Handmaidens of Artemis?". The Classical Journal. 92 (3): 249–257. JSTOR 3298110.
4. Lawson, John Cuthbert (1910). Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 131.
5. "Heathen Artemis yielded her functions to her own genitive case transformed into Saint Artemidos", as Terrot Reaveley Glover phrased it in discussing the "practical polytheism in the worship of the saints", in Progress in Religion to the Christian Era 1922:107.
6. Tomkinson, John L. (2004). Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and Other Exotika (1st ed.). Athens: Anagnosis. chapter 3. ISBN 978-960-88087-0-6.
7. Kready, Laura (1916). A Study of Fairy Tales. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
8. Briggs, Katharine Mary (1976). "Euphemistic names for fairies". An Encyclopedia of Fairies. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-73467-X.
9. "The Nymph of the Spring". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
10. Stephen John Campbell (2004). The Cabinet of Eros: Renaissance Mythological Painting and the Studiolo of Isabella D'Este. Yale University Press. pp. 95–6. ISBN 978-0-300-11753-0.
11. Maryan Wynn Ainsworth; Joshua P. Waterman; Dorothy Mahon (2013). German Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1350-1600. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 95–6. ISBN 978-1-58839-487-3.
12. Jay A. Levenson; National Gallery of Art (U.S.) (1991). Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration. Yale University Press. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-300-05167-4.
13. Leonard Barkan (1999). Unearthing the Past: Archaeology and Aesthetics in the Making of Renaissance Culture. Yale University Press. pp. 237–8. ISBN 978-0-300-08911-0.
14. Elisabeth B. MacDougall (January 1994). Fountains, Statues, and Flowers: Studies in Italian Gardens of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 37–56. ISBN 978-0-88402-216-9.
15. Kenneth Gross (1992). The Dream of the Moving Statue. Cornell University Press. pp. 170–175. ISBN 978-0-8014-2702-2.
16. Rose, Herbert Jennings (1959). A Handbook of Greek Mythology (1st ed.). New York: E. P. Dutton. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-525-47041-0.
17. Orphic Hymn 71.
18. Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, Book 2
19. ARGONAUTICA BOOK 2
20. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 2.1
21. Stephanus of Byzantium s. v. Aōros
22. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 1. 2
23. Robert Graves. The Greek Myths, section 110 s.v. The Children of Pelops
24. Stephanus of Byzantium s.v. Abrettēnē
25. Schol. ad Pers. Sat. i. 76.
26. Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions 10.21–23
27. Hyginus, Fabulae, 102
28. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10. 37. 5
29. Suda s. v. Kretheus
30. Stephanus of Byzantium s. v. Krimisa
31. Antoninus Liberalis. Metamorphoses, 22 vs Cerambus
32. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.14.2
33. Stephanus of Byzantium s. v. Hylleis
34. Stephanus of Byzantium s. v. Krētē
35. Robert Graves. The Greek Myths, section 108 s.v. Tantalus
36. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9. 1. 1
37. William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology s.v. Myrmex
38. Suda s. v. Nakoleia
39. Pausanias, 9. 35. § 1
40. Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy, 1. 290 – 291

Sources

• Burkert, Walter (1985). Greek Religion (1st ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-36281-9.
• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
• Larson, Jennifer Lynn (2001). Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514465-9.
• Lawson, John Cuthbert, Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1910, p. 131
• Nereids
• paleothea.com homepage
• Tomkinson, John L. (2004). Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and Other Exotika (1st ed.). Athens: Anagnosis. ISBN 978-960-88087-0-6.

External links

• Theoi.com: Nymphs

• Theoi Project – List of Nymphs