Nymphae or Nymphs (Gr. vvn<pai) is, in classic mythology, the name of a numerous class of inferior fe- male divinities, though they are designated by the title of Olympian, because they were said to be called to the meetings of the gods in Olympus. They are described as the daughters of Zeus, and were believed to dwell on earth in groves, on the summits of mountains, in rivers, streams, glens, and grottoes (Homer, Odyss. vi, 123, etc. ; xii, 318 ; U. xx, 8 ; xxiv, 615). Homer describes them as presiding over game, accompanying Artemis, danc- ing with her, weaving in their grottoes purple gar- ments, and kindly watching over the fate of mortals {Odyss. vi, 105 ; ix, 154 ; xiii, 107, 356 ; xvii, 243 ; //. vi, 420; xxiv, 616). Men offer up sacrifice either to them alone, or in conjunction with other gods, such as Hermes {Odyss. xiii, 350; xvii, 211, 240; xiv, 435). From the places which thej' inhabit thej' are called apvovujxoi {Odyss. vi, 105), optandStc {H. vi, 420), and vrj'idSeg {Odyss. xiii, 104).
The nymphs, whose number is almost indefinite, may be divided into two great classes. The first class cm- braces those who must be regarded as a kind of inferior divinities, recognised in the Avorkshop of nature. The early Greeks saw in all the phenomena of ordinary nat- ure some manifestation of the Deity ; springs, rivers, grottoes, trees, and mountains, all seemed to them fraught with life ; and all were only the visible embod- iments of so many divine agents. The salutary and beneficent powers of nature were thus personified, and regarded as so many divinities ; and the sensations pro- duced on man in the contemplation of nature, such as awe, terror, joy, delight, were ascribed to the agency of the various divinities of nature. The second class of nymphs are personifications of tribes, races, and states, such as Cyrene, and many others. The nymphs of the first class must again be subdivided into various species, according to the different parts of nature of which they are the representatives.
1. Nymphs of the Watery Element. — Here we first mention the nymphs of the ocean {'QKsavh'ai or 'Qks- nvtCtc, i'Vj.i(pnt dXiai), who are regarded as the daugh- ters of Oceanus (Hcsiod, Theog. 346, etc., 364 ; ^schyl. Prom. ; Callim. Hymn, in Diem. 13 ; Apollon. Rhod. iv, 1414 ; Sophocles, Philoct. 1470) ; and the next the nymphs of the Mediterranean, or Inner Sea, who are re- garded as the daughters of Nereus, whence they are called Nereides (Hesiod, Theog. 240, etc.). The rivers were represented by the Polameides, who, as local di- vinities, were named after their rivers, as Acheloides, Amvrides, Ismenides, Amnisiades, Pactolides (ApoUon. Rhod. iii, 1219; Virgil, .««. v, iii, 70; Pausan. v, 5, G; i, 31, 2; Callim. Hynm. in Dian. 15; Ovid, Met. vi, 16; Steph. Byz. s. v. 'AiiviaoQ). But the nymphs of fresh water, whether of lakes, brooks, or -ivells, are also designated by the general name Naiades, though they have in addition their specific names, as KpijvaXai,
NYMPHS
250
NYMPHCEUM
JlTfymai, 'EXfioi'd/KOj, Aifii'ariviQ or AifivdStQ (Ho- mer, OJijss. xvii, "240; Apollon. Khod. iii, 1219; Theo- crit. V, 17; Orph. Hymn. 50, G; Arrjon. Gi4), Even the rivers of the lower regions are described as having their nymphs; hence Nymphm iiifernce paludis a.\\A Avernales (Ovid, Met. V, 540; Fast, ii, CIO). IMany of these pre- sided over waters or springs which were believed to in- spire those that drank of them, and hence the nymphs themselves were thought to be endowed with prophetic or oracular power, and to inspire men with the same, and to confer upon them tlie gift of poetry (Pausan. iv, 27, 2; ix, 3, 5; 34, 3; Plutarch, Aristid. 11; The- ocritus, vii, 92). Inspired soothsayers or priests are therefore sometimes called vvi.i(p6\7]TTToi (I'lato, I'/icedr. p. 421, e). Their powers, however, vary with those of the springs over which they preside; some were thus regarded as having the power of restoring sick persons to health (Pindar, 01. xii, 2G ; Pausan. v, 5, 6 ; vi, 22, 4) ; and as water is necessary to feed all living beings, the water- nymphs {vOpuicig) were also worshipped, along with Dionysus and Demeter, as giving life and blessings to all created beings, and this attribute is ex- pressed by a variety of epithets, such as KapiroTpu^oi, aliToXiKai, vojiiai Kovporpu^oi, etc.). As their influ- ence was thus exercised in all departments of nature, thej' frequently appear in connection with higher di- vinities, as, for example, with Apollo, the prophetic god, and the protector of herds and flocks (Apollon. Ehod. iv, 1218) ; with Artemis, the huntress and pro- tectress of game, for she herself was originally an Arca- dian nymph (Apollon. lihod. i, 1225 ; iii, 881 ; Pausan. iii, 10, 8) ; with Hermes, the fructifying god of flocks (Homer, Hymn, in Aphrod. 262) ; with Dionysus (Orph. Hymn. 52; Horace, Carm. i, 1, 31 ; ii, 19, 3) ; with Pan, the Seileni, and Satyrs, whom they join in their Bacchic revels and dances.
2. JVympks of mountains and grottoes are called 'Opo- de/ividSec and 'OpsidStc, but sometimes also by names derived from the particular mountains they inhabited, as Kl^alptJJlucec, IhjXidStQ, KopvKiai, etc. (Theocritus, vii ; Virgil, ^f,";;. i, 1G8, 500 ; Pausan. v, 5, 6 ; ix, 3, 5 ; X, 32, 5; Apollon. Rhod. i, 550; ii, 711; Ovid, Her. xx, 221 ; Yirgil, Edoff. vi, 5G),