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Nymphs

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Nymphs

The name is familiar, but these Greek spirits of rocks, trees and streams are not often recognized as goddesses, despite featuring importantly in myths and receiving regular sacrifices of meat, milk and oil (never wine, although they raised the god of wine, Dionysos). They were imagined as beautiful naked women, with long green hair. There are no parallel groups of male divine figures; all collective nature spirits were feminine to the Greeks.

Nymphs fell into several categories. Among these, most are connected with running water, either as daughters of water gods or as water divinities themselves. Nymph names often include the syllables naïs or rhoê, both of which refer to running water. As water divinities, the Nymphs were often associated with rituals of healing, which often took place in precincts around springs and other water sources.

Most numerous of the watery Nymphs were the Oceanids (Okeanids), the 3,000 daughters of the sea-god Oceanus and the ancient sea-Titan, Tethys; most other Nymphs were said to be daughters of the sky-god Zeus. Early Nymphs, the Oceanids were later replaced by another group, the Nereids. Some have described the Nereids as divinities of the Mediterranean Sea, while the Oceanids lived in the vaster Atlantic. Others consider the Nereids as river goddesses, who bore names for the rivers they occupied.

The 50 daughters of the sea goddess Doris and the god Nereus (from whom they take their name), the Nereids were famous for their rosebud faces and their oracular powers; not only could they predict shipwrecks but they could avert them. In their honor, the Greeks danced likes sprites, sometimes clad, sometimes naked in imitation of the Nereids’ ocean freedom.

Ponds, lakes and other still waters were the homes of the Naiads (Naiades), yet another form of water Nymph. The Naiads were not so long lived as oceanic Nereids, but lived longer than the tree women or Dryads. As long as the streams and rivers embodying them did not go dry, the freshwater Naiad lived.

Among the Naiads were the important goddesses of inspiration, the Musae (Muses), who lived in flowing springs. Oracular powers were typically bestowed by Nymphs, as well as artistic eloquence; a form of madness called nympholepsy was known in which possession by nymphs resulted in an exhalted state and high eloquence. Some of the Naiads were healing goddesses as well as powers of inspiration. Those called Limnades were dangerous, haunting lakes, marshes, and swamps. They sang soft songs to passing strangers, luring them to a watery death, or called out desperately as though they were drowning women, luring passersby into mire and mud.

Although some scholars argue that the term "nymph" can only refer to elementals of water, other collective goddesses unrelated to water also appear who are called Nymphs. Star Nymphs were called Hyades or Pleiades. Unlike most groups of Nymphs, the Hydes were limited in number, appearing as a double or triple figure.

On land, Nymphs were embodied in both animate and inanimate nature. The Limoniades were gentle folk, Nymphs who lived in open meadows and entertained themselves by dancing with the flowers. Rocks and mountains were the domain of the Oreads, sweet singing, slender, pale women who wore thin robes, woven in caves on fine looms visible only to the second sighted. To honor the Oreads, the Greeks anointed rocks with fragrant oils, hung attractive belts on rocks, and left offerings in caves.

Among the Nymphs who lived in animate nature, the Dryads or Hamadryads were best known. Every tree had a resident Dryad, who lived only as long as the tree that embodied her. Sometimes a Dryad would punish a mortal for thoughtlessly injuring her by breaking branches. Accidental death in a woodland was blamed on Dryad revenge. Dryads were considered especially active in early August, when trees could not be cut and baths were avoided

Bee-Nymphs were called Melissae ("soothing one"), a word also used of colleges of priestesses. Because Nymphs were typically endowed with prophecy, the term Melissa was sometimes used to designate a soothsayer. The original Melissa was said to been a Nymph who discovered the use of honey.

A final category of Nymph was the inhabitant of a specific important place. Sometimes, rather than Nymphs being named for locations, the opposite occurred. At the sanctuary of Elis, a group of Nymphs called the Acmenes were honored at a special altar, surrounded by shrines to other gods. They may have been the genii loci (spirits of place) of that region.

In addition to collective myths of Nymphs, many myths and legends describe them individually. A predominant theme is the attempted rape of a woman, who then turns into a Nymph inhabiting a plant or tree; this has been interpreted as describing the suppression of localized goddess worship, with the "nymph" having been a priestess who was killed for her loyalty to her religion.

Belief in the elemental powers of Nymphs remained common in Greece at least until the early 20th century, when significant material was gathered showing that mountain, river, woodland and ocean nymphs were still acknowledged. These Nymphs were depicted as amoral and possibly threatening to humanity. Precautions were constantly necessary to protect self and property against the likely thefts caused by Nymph desires. The Nymphs were referred to with the kind of circumlocutions also found in ancient times. Such terms as "the ladies," "the kindly ones," and "the maidens" were used to flatter the elemental powers and distract them from any mischief they might be considering.

The most dangerous of the Nymphs were the beautiful Nereids, who were believed to dance on pools and streams, hoping to lure passersby to watery deaths. In some areas, Nereids were thought to be domestically inclined and eager to marry humans. Like other fairy wives, however, they were as likely to leave on a whim as to remain, and whether they left children as well as broken-hearted husbands was of no interest to them.

Called the Neraidos or mermaids, these seductive beings loved to dance and would hang about resort towns, looking for a good time. Anyone encountering them was advised to fall on the ground and pretend to be dead. If a man spoke to her, he would lose his voice and could only regain it by returning to the exact spot at a later time. Stories of the dangerous Neroidos followed Greek migration to America and have been recorded in Detroit.

Some good sources for Nymph-lore:

Barrington, Judith M. Divine Escorts: Nereids in Archaid and Classical Greek Art. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1995

Larson, Jennifer. Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001

Larson, Jennifer. "Handmaidens of Artemis?" , The Classical Journal, Vol. 92, No. 3 (Feb-Mar, 1997), p. 249-257

Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane. Hylas, the Nymphs, Dionysos and Others: Myth, Ritual, Ethnicity. Stockholm: Skrifter Utgivna av Svenska Institutet I Athen, Acta Instituiti Atheniensis Regni Suecia, 2005.