naiad
Gustave Doré - The Naiads of the Sea (around 1870)
Arnold Böcklin - The Game of the Naiads (1886)
Anton Schmidgruber - Naiad from the Triton and Naiad Fountain, Vienna (around 1890)
The naiads ( ancient Greek Ναϊάδες , plural for Ναϊάς Naïás ; from νάειν "flow") are nymphs in Greek mythology who watch over springs, streams, rivers, swamps, ponds and lakes.
myth
The naiads were either daughters of Zeus or Oceanus . If the waters of a naiad dried up, they died.
The naiads were often objects of local cults that they worshiped as fertility goddesses . Their waters were sometimes said to have magical healing properties or prophetic powers.
The naiads were also known for their extreme jealousy . According to a story by Theocritus , the shepherd Daphnis was the lover of the naiad Nomia . Since Daphnis was unfaithful to her several times, she punished him with blindness in revenge .
Types of naiads
- Crinaeae (sources)
- Limnades or Limnatides (lakes)
- Pegaeae (streams)
- Potamids (rivers)
Individually named naiads
- Aba , mother of Ergiscus
- Abarbaree , mother of the Kallirrhoë
- Abarbaree , mother of Aisepos and Pedasus
- Aganippe , daughter of Termessus
- Aigina , daughter of the river god Asopos and his wife Metope
- Aigle , the mother of the Charites with the sun god Helios
- Akraia , daughter of the river god Asterion and nurse of the goddess Hera
- Arethusa , daughter of Hesperus and Nyx
- Asterodeia , wife of Aietes, mother of Absyrtus
- Bateia , wife of King Oibalus, mother of Hippocoon, Tyndareus and Ikarios
- Camena , a Roman spring deity
- Chariklo , wife of the centaur Cheiron , mother of Karystos and Okyroe
- Creusa
- Daphne , pursued by Apollon and afflicted with love
- Daulis , daughter of the Boiotic river god Kephissus
- Egeria , mistress of the legendary second king of Rome
- Euboia , daughter of Asopus , namesake of Euboea
- Euboea , daughter of Asterion, nurse of the goddess Hera
- Glauke , Arcadian nymph in the city of Tegea
- Gorgyra , lover of the river god Acheron, mother of the underworld demon Askalaphos
- Idaia , lover of the river god Skamandros, mother of Teukros
- Ismene , daughter of the river god Asopos, wife of the Argive king Argos
- Iuturna (see also Juturna spring ), Latin spring nymph and Roman goddess
- Kallirrhoë , daughter of Acheloos , wife of Alkmaion
- Kallirrhoë , daughter of Scamander , wife of Tros
- Kassotis , spring nymph on Mount Parnassus
- Kastalia , daughter of Acheloos and wife of Delphos
- Klaia , with a sanctuary on Mount Kalathion
- Krëusa , daughter of Gaia and Oceanus
- Kyane , associated with the river god Anapos, playmate of Persephone
- Cyrene , daughter of King Hypseus of Lapiths
- Lara (underworld deity Tacita)
- Leiriope , lover of the river god Kephisus, mother of Narcissus
- Lilaia , daughter of the river god Kephissus
- Lympha
- Melite
- Metope , daughter of the river god Ladon, wife of Asopus
- Minthe , daughter of Cocytus, transformed by Persephone
- Moria , nymph of the Hermos river
- Mycenae , namesake of the city of Mycenae
- Nana , daughter of the river god Sangarios, mother of Attis
- Nomia
- Oinone , married the shepherd Paris, the Trojan prince
- Orseis , daughter of Oceanus or Peneius
- Peirene , mother of Leches and Kenchrias
- Periboia , wife of Icarius
- Pitane , daughter of the river god Eurotas
- Praxithea , wife of the Attic king Erechtheus
- Salamis , daughter of the river god Asopos, wife of Panopeos
- Salmakis , combined with Hermaphroditos into a single being
- Sinope , daughter of Asopus and Metope
- Stilbe , daughter of the Thessalian river god Peneios and the naiad Creusa
- Symaithis , daughter of the river god Symaithos, mother of Acis
- Syrinx , daughter of the river god Ladon
- Tereine , daughter of Strymon, mother of Thrassa
- Thelpusa , Arcadian naiad, daughter of the river god Ladon
- Thyia , naiad of a spring on Mount Parnassus
- Tiasa , daughter of the river god Eurotas
- Zeuxippe , wife of Pandion
Descriptions of the naiads can be found u. a. in Apollodorus , Hesiod and Homer (in the Iliad and the Odyssey ).
Naiads in art and culture
- Naiads are a popular motif in painting during the Romantic period ; Mythological themes (e.g. "Abduction of Hylas by the nymphs") come into contact with the representation of nature in the same way as the female nude .
- In Georg Philipp Telemann's suite Hamburger Ebb 'und Fluth from 1723, one movement ( Gavotte ) bears the programmatic title Playing Naiads .
- There is an opera in four acts by Johann Nepomuk von Waibel entitled Die Najaden , published in Constance in 1816 and 1820.
literature
- L. Bloch: Nymphs, Section 4: The Naiads . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 3.1, Leipzig 1902, Col. 507-515 ( digitized version ).
- Hellmut Schnitter: The Naiads of Switzerland. Sauerländer & Company, Aarau 1922.
- Hans model: The naiads of the Main area. In: 19. Report of the Natural Research Society Augsburg. Natural Research Society, 1966 ( PDF ).
Web links
Wiktionary: Naiade - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Naiads - Collection of images, videos and audio files
- Naiads in the Theoi Project (English)