Nymphs - masters of nature in mythology

Light and playful, beautiful fabulous creatures - nymphs. They were seen by the ancient Greeks. Their house is all nature: mountains, forests, rivers, fields. Everything breathes, boils, swells due to their restless diligence. They are in every whisper of the wind and the gurgling of the stream - the divine spirits of the mother of the Earth.

Who are the nymphs?

Nymph is - in translation from the Greek virgin, the bride. Parents of nymphs are the god Thunderer Zeus and Gaia (Earth). In ancient times, people were very careful about nature, considering it alive in all forms and forms. Nymphs are the ancient Greek gods, who patronize the source of the nature in which they settled. At the initial stage, the spirits had no names, but some of them had a strong influence on the lives of the gods and people that became known. Basically, nymphs were named after the halo of their habitat.

What does a nymph look like?

Nymph is a child of nature, not tolerant of fuss and crowded places. People knew where the nymphs live, but few of the mortals saw firsthand what the virgins of nature look like, and there was a certain belief: to see a nymph fooling around to a simple person can be blinded, and if she was naked, an imminent death awaited. Fairy nymphs are very delicate and fragile creatures. In the sources of ancient Greek mythology, the appearance of nymphs is described:

• young half-naked or naked beauties;
• long flowing streams of hair of different shades, in which flowers, shells or twigs of trees are interwoven;
• skin is white, pink or greenish;
• charmer, his eyes and gentle iridescent laughter fascinating people.

What are the nymphs?

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

1. Nereids are sea virgins.
2. Oceanides are oceanic spirits.
3. Limnads are nymphs of swamps and lakes.
4. Naiads are divas of rivers and springs.
5. Oready, Orestiada and Agrostina are nymphs of mountains and gorges.
6. Nanen, the Napei are the virgin valleys.
7. Alseids are nymphs of groves.
8. Dryads, Hamadriads are tree girls.
9. Hyades are the spirits of rain

Forest nymphs

The forest lives its secret life and in the minds of ancient people strong and powerful century-old trees, especially oaks and ash trees, stood out against the background of all the others were the container of the beautiful dryad soul. The forest nymph is closely related to the life of its tree, and if the dryad can choose another tree after its death, the hamadriads (the lower nymphs) died along with the destroyed tree. In ancient Greece, the cutting of a century-old tree was considered blasphemy and punished with death. According to legend, the nymph of the forest Orsinoy gave birth to Hermes the goatish Pan, who became a god of wild nature and shepherds for the Greeks.

Nymphs of rivers and lakes

The river nymph is a capricious and delicate creature. Naiads settle in streams, small streams and springs, do not live in stagnant water. Fragile creatures that can die when the source is dried up or its dam. People who respected the water element, tried in every possible way to propitiate the maidens of water, for this purpose they built sanctuaries and nymphaeas (complexes with fountains). On the banks of rivers and lakes left bread, vessels with milk, cheeses, sacrificed animals. Nayad Shiring, fleeing from the harassment of the Pan, turned into a reed, but God cut it off and made a fine pipe that delighted the ear.

Sea nymph

The nymph of the sea on the canvases of ancient artists is depicted with a sea shell at the bosom. Nereids are the daughter of the revered Greek god Nereus, who patronizes the nautical travelers and the Doris nymph. According to different sources, they numbered from 50 to 100. The personification of the calm sea element - Nereids lead a measured life, lead roundelays on the seabed, at night can go to the surface of the earth and sing, dance along with nymphs of land. Famous marine nymphs:

1. Galatea - her story of unhappy love was sung by the poet Philoxen in the work "Cyclops." Nereid fell in love with Aqeeda, the son of the nymph Semitis, but the Cyclops Polyphemus, also greatly in love with Galatea, in anger tore off the rock from the volcano Etna and crushed the unhappy. A sorrowful nymph turned the blood of her lover into the river Aqeed.
2. Amphitrite is the wife of the lord of the seas of Poseidon. She was revered by the Greeks on a par with her husband and portrayed with him in a chariot drawn by newts.
3. Panopeia is a sea-diva, which sailors used during strong storms, to gain protection and protection.

Celestial nymphs

Nymphs are all the beauty of nature, inspired by people. Celestial maidens The Pleiades are the daughters of Titan Atlanta and the nymphs-oceanids of Pleione. Originally they served the goddess of hunting Artemis, accompanied her on trips. In a later period, the ancient Greeks transformed them into celestial nymphs. Their names, eternally imprinted in the eponymous name of the constellation Pleiades:

• Mayan;
• Sterop;
• Electra;
• Taygetah;
• Alcyone;
• Keleno;
• Merope.

There are various myths about the transformation of sisters:

1. Pleiades, saddened by the fate of Atlanta to hold the whole firmament, decided to commit suicide in order to be close to your beloved father.
2. Atlas, who participated in the battle against the gods, was defeated and, as punishment, was eternally condemned to prop up the whole burden of the firmament. In the absence of titanium, the hunter Orion began to pursue and solicit his daughters. The Pleiades turned to the gods for help, and Zeus regretted them, turning them into seven pigeons, with the proviso that they would carry him a heavenly drink - ambrosia.
3. Another myth says that from the persecution of Orion, Zeus helped the Pleiades - turned them into a constellation, and Orion was punished by becoming a constellation of Orion, in the guise of which he pursues the Pleiades, but never will overtake them ever.

Nymphs of the mountains

The mountains, grottoes, gorges and caves are home to one more kind of nymphs - Orestiada or Oread. Mountain devils are portrayed as sitting in meditation on the rocks, patronized by miners and shepherds. The well-known representative of the oread is the beautiful nymph Echo, according to legend, cursed by the mistress of Olympus - Hero . Zeus's wife caught the Echo in the fact that she distracted Hera while the spouse was entertained and cheated on her with nymphs. Hera stripped 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 the duration of their life can reach up to 7000 years, which in the person's view looks like immortality. In mythology, the beautiful virgins of nature, being lower in rank of the gods, nevertheless cooperate with them, exert their influence on them and participate in divine feasts and councils. In alliances between nymphs and gods, heroes, new gods and mythological entities are born. The Greeks endowed the nymphs with various superpowers :

• fair (not always) rulers of fate;
• the patroness of shepherds and cattle;
• Those who have the power to give people 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, a female drunkard or a vilia. These ancient spirits of nature, unlike the ancient Greek nymphs, are not entirely friendly and are often openly hostile to people. During the life of the virgin, they knew a bitter fate: they were ruined by men, prematurely died before they were married. Mermaids were associated with the cult of fertility in the Slavs, and there was a celebration of Rusalia, it was thought that these days mermaids and watermans lead round dance - it is impossible to work in the field, because in anger they could trample all the crops.

Nymph in Greek mythology

The nymphs of ancient Greece exerted a tremendous influence on the gods, sometimes replaced them with mothers, others became wives and the gods listened to their opinion - you can not argue with nature. The most important were nymphs of water sources and this is understandable - the water is the source of life. Nymphs, famous and imprinted in Greek mythology:

1. Kinosura - became the nurse of Zeus, who disappeared in her on the mountain of Crete during the persecution of Father Kronos. Zeus, feeling a sense of gratitude, placed her on the sky in the form of a constellation of the Little Ursa.
2. Daphne - the myth of Apollo and the nymph Daphne is one of the most popular and beloved by the Greeks. The light-bearing god Apollo subjected Erota's ridicule 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 maid Daphne, and her heart was struck with an arrow of dislike. Apollo, burning with feelings, began to pursue a nymph and Daphne prayed to mother Gaea that she changed her appearance - so there was a laurel tree. God of light, in memory of his beloved, proclaimed the laurel with his sacred tree. On the statues of ancient sculptors - laurel wreath is one of the attributes of Apollo.
3. Dodon nymphs (hyades) - brought up and nourished the god of winemaking and all vegetation of Dionysus. In gratitude, Dionysus asked the sorceress Medea to make them eternally young. In another version, Zeus placed them on the sky in the form of a scattered star cluster of Hyades. In modern Greece, it is still believed that once the Hyades cluster becomes visible, this is the beginning of the rainy season.