Nymphs in Slavic mythology. A nymph is a daughter and guardian of nature. Weather Goddesses

- (Nymphae, Νύμφαι). Lower female deities who, according to Greek belief, lived in the seas, rivers, springs, grottoes, mountains, groves and meadows. They were divided into several classes, according to the places they inhabited. 1) Sea nymphs, to... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

In the myths of the ancient Greeks, the deities of nature, its life-giving and fruitful powers. There are nymphs of rivers, seas, springs (these are water nymphs of oceanids, nereids, naiads), lakes and swamps (nymphs of limnads), mountains (nymphs of agrostina, orestiads), groves (nymphs of alseids), ... ... Historical Dictionary

- (Greek nymphe). Greek young demigoddesses who personified objects of nature, from which they received names, for example, Nymphs of forests, mountains, rivers, etc. 2) one of the external parts of the female genital organs. Dictionary of foreign words included in ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (foreign) women of easy virtue (an allusion to the nymphs of mythological cheerful beauties, demigoddesses, long-lived, but not immortal). Wed. Sitting with her was... one of the youngest... quick-tongued nymphs of the demimonde. Markevich. From... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Nymphs, in Greek mythology, female deities of nature living in mountains, forests, seas, and springs (Nereids, Naiads, Dryads). They were considered daughters of Zeus, companions of Artemis or Dionysus... Modern encyclopedia

In Greek mythology, female deities of nature living in mountains, forests, seas, and springs. They were considered daughters of Zeus, companions of Artemis or Dionysus... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

In Greek mythology, female deities of nature live in mountains, forests, seas, and springs. They were considered the daughters of Zeus, companions of Artemis and Dionysus. Large explanatory dictionary of cultural studies.. Kononenko B.I.. 2003 ... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

Nymphs- Nymphs, in Greek mythology, female deities of nature, living in mountains, forests, seas, springs (Nereids, Naiads, Dryads). They were considered daughters of Zeus, companions of Artemis or Dionysus. ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Nymphs- (from the Greek nymphe maiden, bride) in Greek mythology there are numerous deities in the form of young maidens, personifying the forces and phenomena of nature; were considered the patroness of marriage. Distinguished n. sources, n. river, sea, mountain, forest, etc.... ... Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book.

NYMPHS- in Greek mythology, young and beautiful female spirits who were believed to inhabit certain places. If Paracelsus limited their possession to the element of water, then the ancients believed that the whole world was inhabited by nymphs. They gave the nymphs various names... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia

Books

Nymphs, Oikkonen Mikko, Luhtanen Sari. Responding to her lover's kisses, Didi did not know that by doing so she was dooming him to death... After all, she is a nymph! Nymphs are immortal, but to remain young and beautiful, they need energy...
Nymphs (2014 ed.), Mikko Oikkonen, Sari Luhtanen. Responding to her lover's kisses, Didi did not know that by doing so she was dooming him to death... After all, she is a nymph! Nymphs are immortal, but to remain young and beautiful, they need energy...

NYMPHS

- female deities of nature living in mountains, forests, seas, and springs. They were considered daughters of Zeus, companions of Artemis or Dionysus. These include: Agannipa, Adrastea, Arethusa, Britomartis, Daphne, Caissa, Calypso (she is the daughter of Atlas), Callirhoe, Callisto, Castalia, Cyrene, Lotis (according to Ovid), the Maya galaxy, Marika?, Melissa, Melia, Muta (Lara ), Orseida, Periboea, Salmacis, Philira, Thosa, Chariklo, Egeria, Aegina, Echo, Juturna, etc.

In general, there are several types of nymphs:

Hyades (Nisean nymphs) - daughters of Atlas and Pleione

dryads - tree nymphs

Lemoniades - goddesses of meadows

Meliads (Melian nymphs) - generated by Gaia from drops of blood of castrated Uranus

Naiads - river nymphs

Nereids - sea nymphs, daughters of the sea elder Nereus

Oceanids - sea nymphs, daughters of the Titan Ocean

oreads - nymphs of the mountains (they had the right to be called by the name of the mountain: Kiferonides, Peliades, etc.)

At a later time, a new type of nymphs arose: the Pleiades, the daughters of the titan Atlas and the oceanids Pleione, began to be counted among the heavenly nymphs.

// Edward BURNE-JONES: Perseus and the Sea Nymphs // Adolphe-William BOUGREAU: Nymphs and Satyr // Arnold Böcklin: Nymph on the Shoulders of Pan // Arnold Böcklin: Bathing Nymphs // TITIAN: Shepherd and Nymph // José Maria de HEREDIA: Bathing of nymphs

Myths of Ancient Greece, dictionary-reference book. 2012

Who are nymphs?

Nymph is translated from Greek as maiden, bride. The parents of the nymphs are considered to be the thunder god Zeus and Gaia (Earth). In ancient times, people treated nature very carefully, considering it alive in all its manifestations and forms. Nymphs are ancient Greek lower deities who patronize the source of nature in which they settled. At the initial stage, the spirits did not have names, but some of them had a strong influence on the lives of gods and people that became famous. Basically, nymphs were named after the halo of their habitat.

What does a nymph look like?

The nymph is a child of nature who does not tolerate fuss and crowded places. People knew where the nymphs lived, but few mortals saw with their own eyes what the maidens of nature looked like, and there was a belief: seeing a frolicking nymph could cause an ordinary person to go blind, and if she was naked, then inevitable death awaited. Fairytale nymphs are very gentle and fragile creatures. The appearance of the nymphs is described in the sources of ancient Greek mythology:

young half-naked or naked beauties;
long flowing hair of different shades, in which flowers, shells or tree branches are woven;
skin white, pink or greenish;
enchantresses who enchant people with their gaze and gentle iridescent laughter.

What types of nymphs are there?

The ancient Greeks associated the beautiful maidens of nature with their habitat and activities. What kind of nymphs are there:

Nereids - sea maidens.
Oceanids - oceanic spirits.
Limnades are nymphs of swamps and lakes.
Naiads are divas of rivers and springs.
Oreads, Orestiades and Agrostins - nymphs of mountains and gorges.
Nanen, Napei - maidens of the valleys.
Alseids - nymphs of groves.
Dryads, Hamadryads - tree girls.
Hyades - rain spirits

Forest nymphs

The forest lives its own secret life and in the minds of ancient people, strong and mighty centuries-old trees, especially oaks and ash trees, which stood out against the background of all the others, were the receptacle of the beautiful soul of the dryad. The forest nymph is closely connected with the life of her tree, and if the dryad can choose another tree after its death, then the hamadryads (lower nymphs) died along with the destroyed tree. In Ancient Greece, cutting down a centuries-old tree was considered blasphemy and was punishable by death. According to legend, the forest nymph Orsinoe gave birth to the goat-footed Pan from Hermes, who became the god of wild nature and shepherding for the Greeks.

Nymph of rivers and lakes

The river nymph is a capricious and gentle creature. Naiads settle in streams, small rivers and springs, and do not live in standing water. Fragile creatures that can die if the source dries up or is dammed. People who revered the water element tried in every possible way to appease the water maidens; for this they built sanctuaries and nymphaeas (complexes with fountains). Bread, vessels with milk, cheeses were left along the banks of rivers and lakes, and animals were sacrificed. The naiad Syringa, fleeing the advances of her master, turned into a reed, but God cut it down and made a beautiful pipe that delighted the ear.

Sea nymph

The sea nymph in the paintings of ancient artists is depicted with a sea shell at her bosom. The Nereids are the daughters of the god Nereus, revered by the Greeks, who is the patron of sea travelers and the nymph Doris. According to various sources, there were from 50 to 100 of them. The personification of the calm sea element - the Nereids lead a measured life, dance in circles at the bottom of the sea, at night they can come to the surface of the earth and sing and dance along with the nymphs of the land. Famous sea nymphs:

Galatea - her story of unhappy love is sung by the poet Philoxenus in the work “Cyclops”. Nereid fell in love with Akidas, the son of the nymph Semitis, but the Cyclops Polyphemus, also deeply in love with Galatea, angrily tore off a rock from the volcano of Etna and crushed the unfortunate man. The saddened nymph turned the blood of her lover into the Akid River.
Amphitrite is the wife of the ruler of the seas, Poseidon. She was revered by the Greeks on a par with her husband and was depicted with him in a chariot drawn by tritons.
Panopea is a sea diva whom sailors turned to during severe storms to gain patronage and protection.

Heavenly nymphs

Nymphs are all the beauty of nature, inspired by people. The heavenly maidens of the Pleiades are the daughters of the Titan Atlas and the oceanid nymph Pleione. Initially, they served the goddess of hunting Artemis and accompanied her on her trips. In a later period, the ancient Greeks transformed them into celestial nymphs. Their names, forever imprinted in the name of the constellation Pleiades:

Mayan;
Sterope;
Electra;
Taygeta;
Alcyone;
Keleno;
Merope.

There are various myths about the transformation of sisters:

The Pleiades, saddened by the fate of Atlas to hold the entire sky on himself, decided to commit suicide in order to be close to his beloved father.
Atlas, who took part in the battle against the gods, was defeated and, as punishment, was forever condemned to support the entire weight of the heavenly vault. In the titan's absence, the hunter Orion began to pursue and harass his daughters. The Pleiades turned to the gods for help, and Zeus took pity on them, turning them into seven doves on the condition that they would bring him a heavenly drink - ambrosia.
Another myth tells that from the persecution of Orion, Zeus helped the Pleiades - he turned them into a constellation, and Orion was punished by turning into the constellation Orion, in the guise of which he pursues the Pleiades, but will never overtake them.

Nymphs of the mountains

Mountains, grottoes, gorges and caves are home to another kind of nymphs - Orestiads or Oreads. Mountain divas are depicted sitting in thought on the rocks, patronizing miners and shepherds. A well-known representative of the Oreads is the beautiful nymph Echo, who, according to legend, was cursed by the mistress of Olympus - Hero. Zeus's wife accused Echo of distracting Hera while her husband was having fun and cheating on her with the nymphs. Hera deprived the oread of her voice, and she could not speak first, but only echo the last sounds of the words of those who spoke.

Nymphs - mythology

The lower deities of the nymphs are not immortal, unlike the gods, but their life expectancy can reach up to 7000 years, which in the human mind looks like immortality. In mythology, beautiful maidens of nature, although lower in rank than the gods, still collaborate with them, exert their influence on them and participate in divine feasts and councils. In unions between nymphs and gods, heroes, new gods and mythological entities are born. The Greeks endowed nymphs with various superpowers:

fair (not always) arbiters of destinies;
patroness of shepherds and livestock;
having the power to endow people with the gift of foresight and poetry;
predicted the future;
healed wounds;
sent madness, blindness or rabies to those who are cruel to nature.

Nymphs in Slavic mythology

The Slavic nymph in Russian folklore is a mermaid, waterwort or vilia. These ancient spirits of nature, unlike the ancient Greek nymphs, are not entirely friendly and are often openly hostile to people. During their lifetime, the virgins experienced a bitter fate: they were ruined by men, they died prematurely before their wedding. Mermaids were associated with the cult of fertility among the Slavs, and there was a holiday called Rusalia; it was believed that on these days mermaids and waterworts danced in circles - it was impossible to work in the field, since in anger they could trample all the crops.

The nymphs of Ancient Greece had a huge influence on the gods, sometimes they replaced their mothers, others became wives and the gods listened to their opinion - you can’t argue with nature. The nymphs of water sources were considered the most important, and this is understandable - water is the source of life. Nymphs, famous and depicted in Greek mythology:

Kinosura - became the nurse of Zeus, who hid with her on Mount Crete during the persecution of his father Kronos. Zeus, feeling a sense of gratitude, placed her in the sky in the form of the constellation Ursa Minor.
Daphne - the myth about Apollo and the nymph Daphne is one of the most popular and beloved by the Greeks. The luminous god Apollo mocked Eros with his bow and arrows, for which he decided to teach him a lesson and struck him with an arrow of love for the mountain maiden Daphne, and struck her heart with an arrow of rejection. Apollo, burning with feelings, began to pursue the nymph and Daphne prayed to Mother Gaia to change her appearance - this is how a laurel tree appeared. The God of Light, in memory of his beloved, proclaimed the laurel his sacred tree. On the statues of ancient sculptors there is a laurel wreath, one of the attributes of Apollo.
Dodon nymphs (hyades) - raised and nurtured the god of winemaking and all vegetation, Dionysus. In gratitude, Dionysus asked the sorceress Medea to make them forever young. In another version, Zeus placed them in the sky in the form of the open star cluster Hyades. In modern Greece, it is still generally accepted that as soon as the Hyades cluster becomes visible, this is the beginning of the rainy season. From the Internet)

Nymph(Nymphae, “maiden”, “bride”) - in ancient Greek mythology, a deity, the personification of the forces of living nature, the patroness of everything growing or moving in nature, everything that gives life to plants.

Description, habitats and origin

Different types of nymphs are mentioned in myths:

Water nymphs. They were considered the main ones, they were also divided into nymphs of the seas (oceanides), nymphs of rivers (nereids), nymphs of sources (naiads), lakes and swamps (limnades). A catalog of Oceanids and Nereids is given by Hesiod in his Theogony.

Tree nymphs. They looked after groves (alseids), or individual trees (dryads and hamadryads), or even individual species, for example, ash nymphs - meliads or Melian nymphs.

Nymphs of mountains and grottoes - orestiades or agrostines.

And other nymphs responsible for individual phenomena or areas, for example, rain nymphs - hyades, nymphs guarding golden apples - hesperides, etc.

Nymphs could originate from different gods, titans, or even after certain events. For example, the daughters of Ocean and Tethys - the oceanid nymphs, the daughters of Nereus and the oceanid Doris - the Nereids, the Meliad nymphs appeared from drops of the blood of castrated Uranus. This is probably why meliads are considered very ancient creatures. However, according to Hesiod, the nymphs were the offspring of Gaia-Earth.

It was believed that nymphs could be both immortal and mortal. For example, hamadryads lived exactly as long as the tree to which they were attached lived, and naiads died along with their source. Other nymphs could live forever or, as Plutarch writes, 9,720 years.

Nymphs lived in caves, grottoes, groves and forests, as well as in their trees, springs or swamps. Therefore, the sanctuaries of nymphs (nymphaeums) were mainly located in forests, groves or grottoes. Homer's description of the cave of the nymphs in Ithaca received a symbolic interpretation as the focus of cosmic forces by the philosopher Porphyry in his treatise “On the Cave of the Nymphs.”

As spirits of streams and rivers, nymphs were responsible for the fertility of fields, meadows, for the abundance of bees, for the growth of herds, so that the ancient Greek, leaving the city gates, heard the voices of nymphs in the sound of streams, and in the noise of trees, and in the buzzing of bees, and even in the mooing of cows. In the works of Greek poets there are no enthusiastic descriptions of nature, characteristic of modern literature, because nature itself was not something abstract - it had the appearance of nymphs and their voices. The cult of the nymphs, which permeated all consciousness, was the cult of nature. And just like fragile nature, the nymphs demanded respectful and careful treatment.

Myths

Many nymphs look quite humanoid (for example, Calypso), some of them were beloved of the gods and gave birth to heroes from them. So Thetis and Zeus were the parents of Achilles, Zeus and Aegina were the parents of Aeacus, the famous soothsayer Teresius was the son of the nymph Chariklo, and the healer and soothsayer Asclepius was the son of Apollo and Coronis. Two nymphs beloved of Hades are also known. One of them was the oceanid Levka, she was mortal and after the expiration of her allotted life, she died. Hades turned his beloved into a white poplar, which appeared on earth thanks to Hercules. Hades' second lover was Mintha (or Cocytis, the nymph of the Cocytus River), but the jealous Persephone turned her into mint. Nymphs were lovers and wives of people, for example, Eurydice, the wife of the Thracian singer Orpheus, was also a nymph.

Often, myths describe situations when nymphs become objects of harassment by gods, people, or even nature spirits - satyrs, but often nymphs themselves strive to be closer to people or other deities and fall in love themselves and participate in festivities. For example, Dionysus was constantly accompanied by meliads on his travels, and the nymph Echo unrequitedly fell in love with a beautiful young man, Narcissus. It was believed that nymphs were constant companions and helpers of the healer god Asclepius.

Zeus can call nymphs to Olympus if necessary (according to Homer). They have unique properties and knowledge of ancient secrets, they heal and predict the future. For example, in place of the Delphic oracle there was the oracle of the goddess Gaia, and after that the oracle of one of the mountain nymphs - Daphne.

However, nymphs are not such peace-loving creatures; they know how to send madness. On the one hand, madness was a terrible punishment, but on the other, it meant that a person had been touched by the ancient wisdom of the nymphs, which means that the delirium of a madman could carry knowledge hidden from ordinary people. This is how soothsayers appeared among people, who were deeply respected; they could temporarily plunge themselves into a state of madness by drinking a decoction or inhaling fumes, such as the Pythia.

Nymphs could also take revenge or make them get lost. One of the myths tells how Apollo went to Parnassus, but on the way he met the nymph of the valley Telphusa. She specifically showed him the wrong path, to the terrible monster dragon Dolphin (otherwise known as Python), because she was afraid of the stranger and decided to destroy him. There are also known cases when nymphs blinded Daphnis and drowned Hylas, making Hermaphroditus bisexual.

There is a well-known myth about how the nymph Arteusa was pursued by the river god Alpheus. Then the goddess of hunting, Artemis, came to the aid of the nymph and opened a passage under the sea, through which Arteusa, in the form of a spring, came to the surface of the island of Ortygia near the Greek colony of Syracuse. Since then, the inhabitants of this colony began to consider Arteusa their patroness.

Another very famous myth tells how Zeus fell in love with the nymph Callisto. He appeared to her in the form of Artemis herself, known for her decency and vow of celibacy. Artemis, having learned about Callisto's pregnancy, expelled her, and Zeus' jealous wife Hera turned the poor nymph into a bear (or Zeus turned the nymph into a bear to save her, and Hera persuaded Artemis to shoot her with a bow). Zeus placed Callisto in the sky in the place with their son in the image of the constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major.

The daughter of the river god Peneus, the nymph Daphne was the most famous of Apollo's lovers. According to Ovid, Cupid struck Apollo with a golden arrow that kindles love, and Daphne, on the contrary, with an arrow that turns away this feeling. Fleeing from the god who was pursuing her, the girl prayed to her father, who turned her into a laurel. The story of Daphne and Apollo is interpreted in art as the victory of chastity over passion.

Streams and rivers became places of fortune telling for the ancient Greeks, because nymphs knew how to predict the future. For example, they threw a sign with a wish into the water and watched whether it would sink, float to the surface, or be thrown out beyond the source. They also threw people convicted of certain crimes into the river. It was the nymphs, in the opinion of the ancient Greeks, who justified or condemned a person; they were incorruptible and fair judges. It was believed that Apollo himself taught the art of predicting nymphs.

Names of famous nymphs

Here are some names of famous nymphs.

Naiads- Alope, Bathia, Hippocrene, Cocytida, Liriope, Mentha, Pyrene, Praxithea, Salmacis, Stilbus, Telphus, Tritonidas, Aegina, Oenon.

Nereids- Amphitrite, Galatea, Glaucus, Lefkothea, Nemerthea, Psamapha, Scylla, Thetis, Thosa.

Oceanids- Asia, Hesione, Dione, Doris, Idia, Clymene, Clytia, Clonia, Lethe, Metis, Ozomene, Perseid, Pleione, Styx, Tyche, Philira, Eurynome, Electra.

Hesperides- Arethusa, Hespera, Egla, Erythia.

Orestiades- Daphne, Ido, Maya, Echo.

Dryads- Dryopa, Syringa (hamadryad), as well as Hyades Calypso and meliade Melia.

Other nymphs- Chloride (flower nymph).

Nymphs in art

It is believed that Homer first mentioned nymphs in the Odyssey in the place where Odysseus woke up in a cave and saw the nymphs surrounding him. After Homer, nymphs began to appear very often in literature and art.

Artists and sculptors depicted nymphs as beautiful young girls with long flowing hair, decorated with wreaths of flowers. They were often depicted dancing and completely naked. During the Hellenistic era, it became customary to depict nymphs sleeping (for example, a painting by Cranach).

Sculptures of naiads often held a shell or vessel; the typical pose of the depicted oread was sitting thoughtfully on a high rock.

One of the most common plots of antiquity during the Renaissance is the myth of Apollo and Daphne. The most famous creation of Pollaiolo (1470-1480) is the painting “Apollo and Daphne,” depicting the god in an elegant camisole, but with bare legs, and the nymph in a flowing dress with green branches instead of fingers. This theme became even more popular during the Baroque era. The pursuit of Apollo and the transformation of the nymph were depicted in their works (both in paintings and in sculpture) by Bernini, L. Giordano, Giorgione, G. Tiepolo, Jan Brueghil, P.P. Rubens and others. In the Rococo era, the plot did not become less fashionable.

In the visual arts, scenes with dancing or bathing nymphs, as well as nymphs with satyrs or nymphs running away from satyrs were very popular. For example, the painting by G. Thom “Dancing Nymphs”, A. Bouguereau “Nymphs and Satyr”, E. Le Sayer “Nymph after Bathing”, N. Poussin “Nymph Syrinx Pursued by Pan”, J. Cook “Bathing Nymphs”, N. Bertin "Pan and the Nymphs" and others.

In modern times

A fairly bright asteroid in the main belt was named after the nymphs - (875) Nymphaeum. It was discovered on May 19, 1917 by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl Observatory, Germany.

Nymph (or cockatiel) is a species of parrot of the cockatoo family, common for keeping at home.

Nymph (or ryukin) is the name given to one of the breeds of artificially bred aquarium fish, otherwise known as “goldfish”.

Also traditionally, a nymph is the name given to the larval stage of development of some arthropods with incomplete transformation, that is, when the individual looks similar to an adult, but does not have sexual maturity.

When, in my early childhood, I was fascinated by the myths of Ancient Greece. And who doesn’t?.. And now I’ve decided to update some of their aspects in my (and maybe your) memory. Namely, to find information about the nymphs, whom artists of all centuries and movements loved so much.

Nymphs(Greek νύμφαι, “brides”, lat. nymphae) - in ancient Greek mythology, the personification, in the form of girls, of living elemental forces, noticed in the murmur of a stream, in the growth of trees, in the wild beauty of mountains and forests.

The world of nymphs (Greek “virgins”), the deities of nature, its life-giving and fruitful forces, personifying everything that moves and grows in nature, everything that gives life to plants, was especially extensive in the imagination of the ancient Greeks. Several types of nymphs were distinguished: nymphs of the seas, springs (oceanids, nereids, naiads), lakes and swamps (limnads), mountains (restiads), groves (alseids), trees (dryads, hamadryads) and their individual species (meliads - ash nymphs) . Valleys and islands also had their nymphs. The main nymphs were considered to be aquatic; according to ancient lexicographs, the word “nymph” means “source”.

Nymphs are very ancient deities. The most ancient nymphs are the Meliads, or Melian nymphs, born from drops of the blood of castrated Uranus. The Oceanids are the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, the Nereids are the daughters of Nereus and the Oceanids Doris. The names of water nymphs mostly indicate one or another property or quality of the water element (catalog of oceanids in Hesiod's Theogony and Nereids there).

The nymphs lived far from Olympus, in deep, echoing caves, into whose mysterious darkness not everyone would dare to enter, but by order of Zeus they were summoned to the palace of the father of gods and people. Where the streams begin to flow, beautiful maidens bent over the newborn waters, together with them they emerged from the depths, breaking through the earth's thickness, and no one could stop their movements. Rejoicing in the sunlight, they sparkled as if they were dancing. The places where they came out were sacred to people; In caves and grottoes, groves and forests, sanctuaries were erected - nymphaeums, where sacrifices were made to the nymphs. Homer's description of the cave of the nymphs on Ithaca received a symbolic interpretation as the focus of cosmic forces by the philosopher Porphyry in his treatise "On the Cave of the Nymphs"

The healing properties of the springs emerging from the earth, noticed by people, turned the nymphs into companions of the healer god Asclepius, into healers who healed and bestowed health. They are the owners of ancient wisdom, the secrets of life and death. In place of the Delphic oracle there was the oracle of Gaia, and then of Daphne - one of the mountain nymphs.

As a particle of nature that gives people joy, they became harites, that is, merciful, supportive and, at the same time, the embodiment of grace, charm, and beauty. With the transformation of Zeus into the supreme deity of all nature, three stood out from the “many” charites. They were declared his daughters, either from one of the Oceanids, or from Hera herself, and the epithets with which people endowed the blossoming nature turned into their names.

For a long time, streams and rivers have served as places of fortune telling. Fellow tribesmen suspected of breaking the laws were thrown there; the nymphs had to justify or condemn the person - unlike any judges, they are incorruptible and fair. There were other ways to ask the nymphs, familiar with the secrets of nature, for advice about what awaits people, because they knew how to predict the future. You could throw a tablet with some inscription into the whirlpool and see if it would sink, float on the surface, or be thrown out beyond the source. As fortunetellers, often trained in the art of fortune-telling by Apollo himself, nymphs became the mothers of fortune-tellers; thus, the nymph Chariklo was called the mother of the fortune-teller Tiresias.

The virgins could also punish those who committed a crime or did not show them due respect. They sent madness, and this punishment was more terrible than many others. But at the same time, in the incoherent cries and words of the madman, the tribesmen began to look for pieces of the wisdom that the nymphs brought from the bowels of the earth, the wisdom of the secret forces of nature. The insane began to be seen as carriers of knowledge hidden from other people. This is how soothsayers and soothsayers appeared, enjoying the greatest respect, whose madness could be temporary, like that of the Pythia who inhaled the vapors escaping from the depths of the earth.

The ability to find those inspired movements, words and sounds to express feelings and thoughts that are inaccessible to a person in a calm state was also perceived as a kind of madness - obsession. A person, seized by this madness, could dance as frantically as the nymphs, or acquired their knowledge of life - and it seemed that he saw through the earth, acquired their sight and hearing, understood the language of plants and birds. When these abilities became more developed, they began to be attributed to the patronage of the sisters of the nymphs - the muses.

Nymphs are long-lived, but, unlike the gods, they are mortal. The source may dry up and the tree may dry up. Nymphs are fragile, like nature itself, and require careful treatment.

With the development of human society, its ideas about nature and its forces changed. The nymphs began to acquire individual names, in the minds of people they began to look more like beautiful naked or half-naked maidens, from whose marriages with celestials heroes began to be born.

Hylas and the nymphs
Waterhouse

Bouguereau
Nymphs and Satyr

The Cave of the Storm Nymphs
Sir Edward John Poynter

Nymphs listening to the Sings of Orpheus,
Charles-Francois Jalabert, 1853

Nymph
Anders Zorn, 1885

Nymphaeum
Adolphe-William Bouguereau, 1878

Nymphs
Oreads (mountains)
Dryads (trees)
Naiads (rivers)
Nereids (of the seas)
Napei (valleys)
Limoniades (meadows)

Naiads - daughters of Zeus, were nymphs of the water element and related to the Nereids. Just as Zeus is the god of clouds and rain, so they are the goddesses of the same element. According to Hesiod, the Naiads of the hills and forests are the children of Gaia. In addition to Zeus, naiads also accompany Poseidon, Dionysus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Demeter, Persephone, provide abundance, fertility and health, and patronize marriages. Naiads were considered long-lived, but not immortal.

Herbert Draper
Naiad's Pool

Naiad
Waterhouse

The Water NymphHon.
John Collier

River nymph
Frederick Lord Leighton

Nereids

Nereids are sea deities, daughters of Nereus and the oceanids of Doris. There are 50 of them (Hesiod in “Theogony” claims that there are fifty of them, but calls fifty-one by name) or 100. They live in a grotto at the bottom of the sea. Judging by their names, they are the personified properties and qualities of the sea element, since it does not harm a person, but is favorable to him and enchants him with its charm.

The most famous of them were:
Amphitrite - wife of Poseidon;
Thetis is the leader of the Nereid choir, to whom Zeus and Poseidon wooed, but was given in marriage by Zeus to the mortal Peleus after receiving an unfavorable prediction from Prometheus;
Galatea is the beloved of Acidas, who was killed by the Cyclops Polyphemus in a fit of jealousy;
Nemertea (Greek νημέρτεια - truth);
Thalia - participated in the lamentation of the Nereids along with Achilles for the dead Patroclus.
The Nereids lead an idyllically calm life in the depths of the sea, having fun with the measured movements of round dances, in time with the movement of the waves; in the heat and moonlit nights they go ashore, or organize musical competitions with newts, or on the shore, together with the nymphs of the land, they dance in circles and sing songs. They were revered by coastal residents and islanders and kept the legends that were written about them. Belief in them has survived even to our time, although the Nereids of modern Greece are generally nymphs of the water element and are mixed with naiads.

Water Nymphs, 1927
Gaston Bussiere

Perseus and the Sea Nymph
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones

Arnold Böcklin, Triton and Nereid, 1874

Sea nymph
Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach

Dryads.

Dryads (Greek tree, in particular oak) are nymphs, patroness of trees. Sometimes dryads were named after trees. The most ancient of the known nymphs are dryads, born from drops of the blood of Uranus and living in ash trees, meliads.
It was believed that dryads were inseparable from the tree with which they were associated, and people who planted and cared for trees enjoyed the special protection of tree nymphs.

"The Dryad" by Evelyn De Morgan

Hamadryads.
Hamadryads are tree nymphs who, unlike dryads, are born with the tree and die with it. The father of a certain Porabius committed a heinous crime by cutting down an oak tree, which the Hamadryad begged him to spare. Because the oak tree, the dwelling of the hamadryad, was cut down, the nymph punished the criminal and his offspring. To atone for guilt, an altar had to be erected to the nymph and sacrifices offered to her.
When Erysichthon ordered the oak tree in Demeter's grove to be cut down, blood flowed from it and the branches became pale. It was the blood of a nymph who lived in an oak tree; dying, she predicted retribution on the desecrator of the sacred tree, endowing him with a feeling of insatiable hunger.
There is a well-known story of the timid hamadryad Syringa, who became a reed to avoid the embrace of the goat-footed Pan.

John William Waterhouse
The Hamadryad

Hesperides.
The Hesperides are nymphs, keepers of golden apples in the far west, living in the “Garden of the Hesperides.” They are the daughters of Nikta; option - Hesperides and Atlanta.
The Hesperides live on the edge of the world near the banks of the Ocean River and guard the apples of eternal youth, which Hera received as a wedding gift from Gaia. Their three (or four) sisters: Egla (Aigla, “radiance”) - the wife of Helios and the mother of Charites, according to one version, Erithia (Erythea, “red”), Hespera (“evening”, option: Hestia) and Arethusa.

Apollonius of Rhodes in “Argonautica” talks about the arrival of the Argonauts, led by Jason, in the Garden of the Hesperides, which Hercules had just left, having killed the guardian of the apples, the dragon Ladon, and frightened the nymphs to death. Seeing the arrivals, the Hesperides crumbled into dust in horror, but, having heeded the requests of the Argonauts, they turned into beautiful trees and then appeared in their usual form and helped the Argonauts get drinking water from Lake Tritonia, where they carried their ship for twelve days, obeying the prophetic words of those who appeared before them Libyan heroines.
In this version of the myth, ancient werewolfism and fetishism are combined with the new function of the hesperides associated with helping heroes.

Garden of the Hesperides
Frederick, Lord Leighton, 1892

Hesperides
Edward Burne-Jones

Sources:
wikipedia.org
www.greekroman.ru