What kind of nymphs are there

They can be mated with the god, and they can give birth to the immortal children after that. In stories written by Homer Nymphs are daughters of Zeus. In other stories by Hesiod, some of them are daughters of the earth-encircling River Okeanos, and they are the one who flourish the nature, others are daughters of Gaia Mother Earth , some of them are daughters of Hekaterides and daughters of Seilenos.

Achilles, Themryes and other heroes from Greek mythology are sons of the Nymphs as there are a lot of stories of mortal men having an affair with the nymphs.

Nymphs dwell in streams, pools, they can appear in a whirlwind or some other places where humans are usually not. They can be dangerous to people who travel alone and decide to spy on them. Nymphs can bring dumbness, madness or stroke to those travelers. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads.

Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Ancient History and Latin Expert. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Gill, N. Who Are the Nymphs in Greek Mythology?

What is an Achilles' Heel? Definition and Mythology. List of Characters in 'The Iliad'. It was equally dangerous to interrupt these nymphs when they were dancing with the rustic gods or bathing with Artemis. The Roman poet Ovid described some of the fears faced when walking through the forests of his country:. I entered a forbidden wood, and the Nymphae Nymphs and half-goat god [Faunus-Pan] bolted from my sight. If any knife has robbed a grove of a shady bough to give ailing sheep a basket of leaves: forgive my offense.

Do not fault me for sheltering my flock from the hail in a rustic shrine, nor harm me for disturbing the pools. Pardon, Nymphae, trampling hooves for muddying your stream. Other Dryads were revered as the ancestors of mankind.

The Meliae, or ash tree nymphs, married the men of the Silver Age before the first human woman was created. The Oreads came to be revered as both Dryads and land nymphs. The conifers that they lived in only grew on mountains, so the Dryads came to be associated with the mountains themselves as well as the trees that grew there.

There are two types of stories in which women were magically transformed into trees. They were either trying to escape the lustful advances of a man or god, or they were so overcome by emotion that the gods took pity on them and made them trees to spare them further anguish. The most famous case was that of Daphne, a water nymph who was pursued by Apollo. She was transferred into a laurel tree to escape him, and her leaves became one of his most sacred symbols.

These spirits were rustic goddesses, but often occupied a much different space than those typically assigned to nymphs. They are generally treated as nymphs, although their domains were very different.

Although they did not fit into the broader categories of nymphs, they still fit the definition of female rustic spirits in some way. Some took on different roles depending on circumstances, such as in the retinue of Dionysus. The categories of nymphs were changeable and indefinite. A Naiad could be transformed into a Dryad or an Oread could become a Maenad under the frenzy of revelry.

Unlike the satyrs, the female goddesses of nature could take many forms depending on the circumstances they found themselves in. Some nymphs were not bound to the earth at all. The celestial types of nymphs inhabited the air and the skies. There were two major groups of celestial nymphs. The Aurae were air nymphs who lived on gentle breezes, while the Asteriae were nymphs of the stars.

The Aurae were sometimes embodied in one minor goddess, Aura. The goddess of the breezes was most well-known for being assaulted by Dionysus at the request of Artemis. Aura was described in her myths as a nymph, although she did not seem to fit into any recognized category of natural goddesses. Because nymphs were always classified in groups, the Aurae were the entire type named after her although she was the only one specifically mentioned.

The Aurae were separate from the winds, which were personified by either four gods or four swift horses. While the winds could be strong and even violent, the Aurae were gentle and refreshing. There were three sisterhoods of Asteriae, each belonging to a different constellation. They had been born as terrestrial nymphs but had been moved to the stars.

The Hyades were most likely once Oceanids. They were thought to bring rain because the appearance of their constellation marked the beginning of the rainy season in Greece. The Pleiades were either Oreads or, like their mother, a type of water nymph. They are sometimes called Atalantes after their father, the Titan Atlas.

The Seven Sisters, as they are popularly referred to, were recurring characters in Greek mythology. Along with other nymphs, they served as nurses to the infant Dionysus after the death of his mother. Several became lovers of the Olympian gods. Most famously, Maia was the mother of Hermes. The sisters were pursued once by the giant Orion, who sought to take advantage of the fact that their father was holding up the dome of the sky and could not protect them.

When the sisters threw themselves from a cliff to avoid being captures, Zeus turned them into birds to save their lives. The Pleiades were an important star cluster for marking the seasons in the Greek world. They were eternally followed by the constellation Orion, but never captured by him. The Hesperides were often named among the star nymphs, although they were more commonly said to have been spirits of the sunset.

Another group of daughters of Atlas , they were Dryads who were assigned to guard the golden apple tree of Hera in the far west. As Dryads they lived in their garden and tended to the tree they guarded, but they also brought bright golden light to the western horizon at sunset. The Hesperides featured prominently in the story of Heracles. When he was sent to pluck an apple from the tree they guarded, he got assistance from their Titan father to complete the task. The tree they watched over had been a gift to the queen of Olympus from Gaia and they were fierce defenders of the immortality-granting apples that grew on it.

Like the celestial nymphs, those of the underworld often fit into the usual water and plant groupings.