Nymph

Ninfas and Satiro by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1873).

In Greek mythology, a nymph (in ancient Greek, νύμφα) is a minor female deity typically associated with a specific natural place, such as a spring, stream, mountain, sea or a grove.

The title of Olympians was applied to them, and it was said that they were summoned to the meetings of the gods on Olympus and that they were daughters of Zeus. Different from the gods, the nymphs are usually considered divine spirits that animate nature, they are represented in works of art as beautiful naked or half-naked maidens, who love, sing and dance. Later poets sometimes describe them as having hair the color of the sea. They were believed to dwell in trees, on mountain tops, in rivers, streams, ravines, and caves. Depending on where they inhabit, they are called Nereids (Νηρείδες)., Oréades (Ὀρειάς) and Naiades (νηϊάδες). Although they never grow old or die of disease, and can beget completely immortal children of the gods, they are not necessarily immortal themselves, being able to die in different ways, although for Homer all the Nymphs are immortal; and, as goddesses, sacrifices were made to them.

Homer further describes them as presiding over the games, accompanying Artemis, dancing with her, weaving purple garments in their caves, and kindly watching over the fate of mortals. Throughout Greek myths they often act as helpers to other major deities, such as the prophetic Apollo, the reveler-god of wine Dionysus, and rustic gods like Pan and Hermes. Men offered sacrifices to them alone or together with others, such as Hermes. They were often the targets of satyrs.

The symbolic marriage of a nymph and a patriarch, often the eponym of a people, recurs endlessly in Greek foundation myths; their union gave authority to the archaic king and his lineage.

Etymology

Nymphs are personifications of nature's creative and uplifting activities, most often identified with the life-giving flow of springs. As Walter Burkert points out, “the idea that rivers are gods of Greek mythology and sources nymphs divine is deeply rooted not only in poetry but also in belief and ritual; the worship of these deities is limited only by the fact that they are inseparably identified with a particular locality."

The Greek word “νύμφη” means “bride” and “veiled”, among other things; that is, a young woman of marriageable age. Others refer to this word (and also to the Latin «cloud» and the German «Knospe») as a root that expresses the idea of growing (according to Hesychius of Alexandria, one of the meanings of "νύμφη" is "rosebud").

Accommodations

Greek nymphs were invariably place-bound spirits, not unlike the Latin genii loci, and the difficulty of transferring their cult can be seen in the complicated myth that Arethusa brought to Sicily. In the works of the Greek-educated Latin poets, the nymphs gradually absorbed into their categories the native Italian divinities of springs and streams (Juturna, Egeria, Carmenta, Fonto), while the Lymphs (originally Lumpae) or Italian water goddesses, due to the fortuitous similarity of their names, could be identified with the Greek nymphs. It is unlikely that the mythologies of the classicist Roman poets influenced the rites and cults of the individual nymphs venerated by peasants at the springs and glens of Latium. Among the educated Romans their sphere of influence was reduced, and they appear almost exclusively as divinities of the aquatic environment.

Classification and Worship

Ninfa Fluvialby Mathurin Moreau.

Nymphs can be divided into two large classes: 1) The first includes all those considered as a type of inferior divinity associated with the cult of nature. The ancient Greeks saw in natural phenomena a manifestation of divinity. Fountains, rivers, caves, trees and mountains; they all seemed charged with life and were but the visible incarnations of divine agents. The salutary and beneficial powers of nature were thus personified, and the sensations produced by contemplating the landscape (such as awe, terror, joy, and pleasure) were attributed to divine action. 2) The second class of nymphs are the personification of tribes, races and states, as is the case with Cyrene.

Nymphs of the first class must again be divided into several species, according to the different parts of nature of which they are representative:

• Ninfas of the aquatic element: The ocean nymphs, the Oceanides ().κεανδες u sκεανίαιαι; or marine nymphs, νφμφαι).λιαι), which are considered daughters of the Ocean, and then to the nymphs of the Mediterranean or the inner sea, which are considered daughters of Nereεre). The rivers were represented by the Potamids (κοταμη.δες), which, as local divinities, were called according to their rivers: Thatoids, Anigrides, Amnisiades or Pactólides. But the freshwater nymphs, whether of rivers, lakes, streams or wells, are also designated by the general name of Náyades (no.).δες), even if they also have their specific names, such as Creneas (Κρηναγαιει), Pegeas (κγαγαιαιαι),).λειονδμος, Limnátidesτνδνδντνδνδνδ Even the rivers of the lower regions (the Underworld) are described with their nymphs, hence the rivers Nymphae infernae paludis (‘ninfas of the infernal swamp’) and the Lamps or Winters. Many of these nymphs presided over the waters or sources, believing that they inspired those who drank from them, so it was thought that the nymphs themselves were endowed with prophetic or eye powers and inspired men, thus giving them the gift of poetry. The diviners or priests inspired by this were sometimes called "ninfileptos" (νυμφςλπτοι). His powers, however, vary with those of the source upon which they preside, considering that some had the power to return the health to the sick, and as the water is necessary to feed the vegetation as well as to all the living beings, the aquatic ninphas (Hidríades,)δρικες) were also worshipped together with Dioniso and Deméter as dies, As her influence was in this way exercised over all sections of nature, they often appear related to higher divinities, such as Apollo, the prophetic god and protector of herds and flocks; with Artemis, the hunter and protector of the game, for she herself was originally an arcadian nymph; with Hermes, the fruitful god of the herds; with Dioniso and with Pan, the Sinas.
• Ninphas of the mountains and caves, called Oréades (.ρειάδες) and Orodemníades (.ροδεμνιάδες), but sometimes also by names derived from the concrete mountains that inhabited, such as Citeronides (Κιθαιρωνίδες), Pelíades (κικες), Coricias (Κορκιαιαι), etc.
• Ninphas of the forests, groves and meadowswhere it was believed that they sometimes appeared and frightened lonely travelers. They were named by the names Alseides (),λση).δες),).ληροί, Auloníades ().λωνιάδες) and Napeas (NOαπαίαιαι).
• Ninphas of the treesof those who were believed to dwell with the trees in which they lived and with those who had come to exist. They were called Dríades (Δρυάδες), Hamadríades (.μαδρυάδες) or Adríades (.δρυάδες), δρ.ς, which means not only ‘roble’ but also any wild tree that grows majestic. The nymphs of the fruit trees were called Mélides (Minimusλίδες), Melíades (Minimusλιάδες), Epimélides ().πιμλίδες) or Hamamélides ().μαμλες). They seem to be of arcadian origin and never appear along with the great gods.

The second class of nymphs, which were related to certain races or localities (Νύμφαι χθόνιαι), usually have a name derived from the places they were associated with, such as Nisíadas, Dodonidas or Lemnias.

Sacrifices offered to the nymphs used to consist of goats, lambs, milk, and oils, but never wine. They were worshiped and honored with shrines in many parts of Greece, especially near fountains, groves, and grottoes, such as near a spring in Cirtones, in Attica, in Olympia, in Megara, between Sicyon and Phliunte, and in other places.

In contemporary culture

Ninfas dancingof Adriaen and Pieter van der Werff (1718).

Modern Greek Folklore

The ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country until the early 20th century, when they used to be known as "Nereids". Around this time, John Cuthbert Lawson wrote:

...there is probably no place or village throughout Greece where women do not take at least precautions against the thefts and the iniquities of the nereids, while many men continue to find themselves recounting in full good faith stories about their beauty, passion and whim. It is not just a matter of faith: more than once I have been in villages where certain nereides had been seen by several people (at least so assured), and there was a wonderful coincidence among the witnesses in describing their appearance and attire.

Nymphs tended to frequent areas far from humans but could be found by solitary travelers outside towns, where their music could be heard and they could spy on their dances or bathing in a stream or pool, either in the heat of the sun. noon or midnight. They could appear in a whirlwind. These encounters could be dangerous, causing the unfortunate human to fall silent, fall in love, madness, or have a stroke. When parents believed that their son had been bewitched by a Nereid, they prayed to Saint Artemidos.

Sexual connotations

Due to the representation of mythological nymphs as female beings who engage in relationships with men and women at will, and completely outside of male dominance, the term is often applied to those who engage in similar behavior.

In the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, it is said that the nymphs persecuted Orpheus for his sweet singing and went mad when they were rejected or even ignored by him. From this, the term "nymphomania" was created by modern psychology to refer to the "desire to engage in sexual intercourse at a level high enough to be considered clinically relevant." Due to the widespread use of the term by laymen and the stereotypes associated with it, professionals currently prefer the term "hypersexuality" which, moreover, can be applied to both men and women.

The word "nymphet" is used to refer to a sexually precocious girl. This term was popularized by Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. The protagonist, Humbert Humbert, uses the word countless times, usually in reference to Lolita.