Anchial (nymph)

Anchiale ( Greek  Ἀνχχιάλη ) is a nymph of Greek mythology .

She was one of Zeus' wet nurses in Crete. According to tradition, she gave birth to her children in the Dictaean Grotto on Mount Psiloritis , digging her fingers into the "earth of Oiaxia ". That is why their children were called daktyloi (fingers). They are considered to be the indigenous people of Crete. Two of them, Titias and Kyllenos, became helpers (directors of fate and assessors) of the "Great Mother of Gods" Cybele . This story is passed on, among other things, in the Argonautica of Apollonios of Rhodes .

literature

• Georg Oertel : Anchiale 2 . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 336 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Karl Tümpel : Anchiale 3. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2104 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Anchiale in the Theoi Project (English)