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Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
  1. Classical Mythology
    Pantheon Heroic Age Royal Houses Geographia Facts & Figures Genealogy Bibliography About Classical Myths
  2. Pantheon
    Creation Primeval Deities Titans Olympians Mother Goddesses House of Hades Thracian Deities Anatolian Deities Nymphs Minor Greek Deities Etruscan Deities Roman Deities The Wrath of Heaven Mysteries
  3. Nymphs

Nymphs

The nymphs (Νύμφαι) were minor female deities or spirits who inhabited the mountains, woods, waters and seas. Like the gods, some were literally forces of nature. They were indistinguishable from the elements of nature.

There were quite a few different types of nymphs. The oreads lived in the mountains, while the naïads (Ναϊάδες) were nymphs of the water, such as the spring and lake. The nymphs of the trees were called dryads (Δρυάδες), hamadryads (Ἁμαδρυάδες), alseids and meliae (Μελίαδες). The Nereïds (Νηρεΐδες) were sea-nymphs. The Oceanids didn't have specific attributes of nature.

Some nymphs were named after a region or island, like Europa and Asia (Oceanids). For instance, there was an island which was named after the nymph Aegina.

Sometimes the division between nymphs and goddesses blurred, such as the case of the sea goddesses, like the Oceanid Doris, or the Nereids Amphitrite and Thetis. These three were goddesses of the sea. However, the Oceanid Metis, goddess of wisdom, had nothing to do with the sea.

It should be noted that there are some difficulties in identifying some nymphs, determining whether they were Oceanids or Nereids. This really depended on the sources that you might read. Amphitrite was identified as a Nereid in Hesiod's Theogony; whereas Apollodorus says that she was an Oceanid in one passage, but in the other she was a Nereid. And there was the obscure goddess Dione who appeared as a Oceanid in Hesiod's Theogony, but as a Titaness in Apollodorus' Library; she could even have been a Nereid.

Nymphs were sometimes worshipped alongside with the gods or heroes in their temples or sanctuaries, though these cults of the nymphs were usually found in caves.

Nymphs were often attendants to goddesses, like Artemis, or to other nymphs, like Calypso who had attendants on her island. Artemis was often seen as the mistress or goddess of the nymphs, since many of them were hunting companions of the goddess. Some nymphs attended Apollo or Hermes by looking after flocks of sheep, as shepherdesses.

The poets and writers often described the nymphs as being of great beauty. Because of their beauty, they often received unwanted attention from gods and mortals. They often tried to preserve their virginity, like the goddess they followed, but often they were powerless to resist mighty gods, like Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo or Hermes. Some were willing, but in many cases they were raped.

Often to escape from unwanted advances, even from the powerful gods, they were transformed into springs, trees, or flowers.

Most nymphs had at least one divine parent, while only a few nymphs had a mortal father and mother. Even more important iss that many of the nymphs became mothers of heroes and gods.

The term "nymph" later meant a young beautiful woman or seductress. Even more derogatory was the term "nymphomania", which was used to describe uncontrollable or excessive sexual desire in women; a woman who was insatiable.

Nereïds

Nereïds

Oceanids

Oceanids

Pleiades

Pleiades

Companions of the Goddess

Companions of the Goddess

Other Nymphs

Other Nymphs

Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Pantheon:

  • • Creation
  • • Primeval Deities
  • • Titans
  • • Olympians
  • • Mother Goddesses
  • • House of Hades
  • • Thracian Deities
  • • Anatolian Deities
  • • Nymphs
  • • Minor Greek Deities
  • • Etruscan Deities
  • • Roman Deities
  • • The Wrath of Heaven
  • • Mysteries
Other Nymphs

Other Nymphs

There are some nymphs that don't fall in any of the above categories or groups, so I have some additional articles here. For Echo, see Narcissus and Echo . For Salmacis, see Hermaphroditus .

August 31st, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Nereids

Nereids

The Nereïds (Nereids), or Νηρεΐδες, were sea nymphs, and were named after their father, Nereus . Their mother was the sea goddess Doris , who was an Oceanid . Below is the list of Nereids found in Hesiod's Theogony : Ploto, Eucrante, Sao, Amphitri...

August 31st, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Companions of the Goddess

Companions of the Goddess

One of the favourite pastimes of many nymphs was hunting. These nymphs often became hunting companions of the goddess Artemis . Artemis was the goddess of hunting and the chase. She was a powerful goddess of the forest and the Lady of Wild Beasts....

August 31st, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Oceanids

Oceanids

The Oceanids were daughters of Oceanus and Tethys . There were three thousand daughters of the Titans. Oceanus also had an equal number of sons who were all river gods. Being an Oceanid didn't necessarily mean that the nymph was a water deity. The...

August 31st, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Other Oceanids

Other Oceanids

There are other Oceanids, other than the ones I have already listed on other pages. Below is the list of some other Oceanids who have no myth of their own, except them being linked to their husbands and children. Oceanid Husband or Lover Children ...

August 31st, 2002 • Jimmy Joe
Minor Greek Deities

Minor Greek Deities

This page provides a description of some of the minor Greek deities. The minor deities are grouped into five categories. These categories are – Sky Deities ; Earth Deities ; Water and Sea Deities ; Other Deities; and Personifications . Sky Deities...

April 24th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Nereus

Nereus

An ancient sea-god. Nereus was the son of Pontus ("Sea") and Gaea ("Earth"). Nereus was the brother of Phorcys , Eurybia , Thaumas (father of Iris ), and the sea monster Ceto . Nereus married an Oceanid named Doris who bore fifty sea-nymphs known ...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Nyx (Night)

Nyx (Night)

Goddess of the night. Nyx was identified by the Romans as Nox, and was often identified as just Night. Nyx was born together with Erebus , Gaea , Tartarus, and Eros ("Love"), out of Chaos. By her brother Erebus, Nyx bore Aether ("Upper Air") and H...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Doris

Doris

A sea-goddess. Doris was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys . Doris was mostly known as mother of the fifty sea-nymphs called the Nereïds (Nereids, mermaids?), and married to the ancient sea-god, Nereus . She has no myth of her own; she was possib...

April 24th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Eurynome

Eurynome

Eurynome (Εὐρυνόμη) was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys ; she was one of the 3000 Oceanids. By Zeus, Eurynome was the mother of the Graces , and possibly of Asopus, the river god in Sicyon. However, Asopus was usually referred to as her brother...

August 31st, 2002 • Jimmy Joe

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