by P Vandegrift

Created on: April 13, 2010

In Greek mythology, nymphs are everywhere. A hero or lonely traveler would often be waylaid from completing his journey due to the distraction of a certain Alseid (nymph of the glens) or Nereid (sea nymph). Nymphs have been saddled with an unfair reputation of being the 'bad girls' of mythology, but not all of them were promiscuous. There is a bit of baggage that comes with being a nymph due to the fact that they were easy targets for amorous gods, or vengeful gods and goddesses. For folks of artistic pursuit, and even those who have a fetish for ancient history and legend, Greek mythology is chock full of the tribulations and triumphs of river nymphs, tree nymphs, mountain nymphs, freshwater nymphs, valley nymphs, garden nymphs, ocean nymphs, air nymphs, and grove nymphs. Some of more well known classifications of nymphs are the Naiads, Dryads, Hesperides, and Oceanids.

Naiads, the freshwater Nymphs

"And ne'er did a Grecian chisel trace, a nymph, a naiad, or a grace, of finer form or lovelier face." Sir Walter Scott

It is said the Naiads descended from the offspring of Oceanus, the god of all fresh-water lakes, ponds, streams, etc. Each Naiad was bound to the particular river or body of water from whence she was born; therefore she would only last as long as her water source. Once the spring or fountain dried up, sadly so did she, unless she somehow managed to marry a mortal, in which case her companions would be left behind to take her place.

Naiads bestowed inspiration on those who came to pay homage and drink from their streams, sometimes they granted prophetic dreams to those who slept beside particular lakes, or healed them of their physical ailments. Although there were a few nymphs who got a bit overzealous and took a few humans down to their watery world with them, such in the case of Hylas, a companion of Heracles. But for the most part they remained true to protecting their birthrights. There was not a lot of job security in being a Naiad as they were both preyed upon and punished severely by the gods if they refused their advances, or by the goddesses for tempting their husband-gods in the first place. One river nymph, Mintha, was punished by Persephone after she found out her husband, Hades, had been having an affair with her. Blaming the nymph of course, Persephone changed Mintha into a plant, which is supposedly how the mint plant came into being.

Another infamous Naiad is Styx. From her we are given the River Styx. Though her dwelling was associated

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