April Kersten
Greek Nymphs: Myth,
Cult, Lore
by Jennifer Larson
Chapter 4: 121-159
I. Things to Keep in Mind.
II. “Mythic genealogies were always laden
with serious political and social significance and were subject to manipulation
from the earliest times.”
III. Nymphs provided a useful mythographic shorthand
for peoples, villages, and cities. — a story of a nymph being seduced
by Zeus could represent the colonization of the area for which the nymph
is named.
IV. In the archaic period the worship of nymphs
was primarily done by the rural poor. During the classical period elites
began to take interest in the worship of nymphs in part due to the popularity
of the Pan cult after the Persian wars.
V. “The lore of nymphs by their very mundaneness
and their rural, local connotations somehow distilled an essential, authentic
quality of Hellenism.”
VI. Three basic themes are sounded over and
over:
1. the nymphs’ presence in the landscape
2. rites of passage and the social dimension of the nymph as a bride
3. genealogy and locial identity
VII. Attica
* Athens
1. The earliest known sites of the nymphs’ cult at Athens are at three
water sources: Empedo, Kallirhoe, and the Asklepieion.
2. Empedo: empedos which means “firmly set”
and “steadfast.”
a. an ancient spring located in a deep cleft at the base of the Akropolis.
b. It was renamed Klepsydra, “water hider”,
when a spring house was constructed over the spring.
c. The spring house incorporated the natural rock overhang of the cave
in a n attempt to keep the naturally rocky appearance of the cave.
d. This suggests the great sanctity of the place.
e. The four small caves and the spring probably make up a single sacred
precinct.
3. Kallirhoe: lovely flowing
a. provided water for the nuptial baths of Athenian women.
b. The exact location of the Kallirhoe is debated as being either at
the bank of the Ilissos or a sixth century fountation house on the agora.
c. Upstream from the Kallirhoe is the hill of Adrettos which is a shrine
of the nymphs and Acheloos.
d. Smaller, doll-like figures were found either at the shrine or by
the spring called korai.
e. The kallirhoe and the shrine are both located in an area called the
Agrai, the Field, where many rustic cults were located.
f. Another such shrine was the shrine of Dionyos at Limnai. At this
shrine Dionyos was connected with both nymphs and the Horai.
g. The shrine of Dionyos at Limnai connected the three divinities as
the Horai ripened the grapes, the nymphs provided water, and wine was sacred
to Dionyos.
4. The sacred springs of the Asklepeion, on the south slope of the acropolis.
a. There are two possible locations: the Round Spring House and the
Slouth Slope House.
b. Each of these locations were associated with the nymphs.
c. Asklepeion was introduced to the site later on as abundant water
was key to the healing power of the god.
d. Across from this site is the Church of Ayia Marina a saint who aid
in childbirth as well as a sacred, smooth rock women would slide down to
aid in a smooth childbirth.
* Peiraieus and Demes
1. The sanctuary at Kephisos River
a. Two dedicators: Xenokrateia and Kephisdotos
b. Xenokrateia dedicates a votive relief which portrays the Geraistian
Nymphs of Birth.
c. The relief follows the cult regulation on what gods should be depicted.
d. “The regulation ensures that the correst gods will receive sacrifice
in the correct order, while the relief depicts the relationship between
Xenokratiea, her son, and the gods of the sanctuary.”
e. Kephisdotos contributes a double-sided relief depicting nymphs, Hermes,
and a river god Kephisos –and Hermes and Echelos, a local hero, on the
other side.
f. Both people claim to have founded altars there but it seems as if
Kephidotos altar was in compliment to Xenokratiea’s.
2. Also a harbor in Athens where votives reliefs have been found indicating
worship of the nymphs.
a. This is an example of nymph worship with a foreign god: Bendis and
Men, a Phrygian moon god.
3. Two calendar inscriptions mentioning nymphs are: Erchia and Marathon.
a. Erchia: the nymphs were worshiped in a cult partnership with other
godsall gods of the life cycle— and five sheep would be sacrificed.
b. Marathon: sacruificed a goat to the nymphs. Aso another tribal group
(trittus) who sacrificed to gods who could aid in the lives of a new citizen.
c. “These sacrifices are of interest because they confirm that
the extraurban cults of the nymphs were not confined to caves.”
* Central Greece
* Boiotia
1. Boiotia has a large number of female divities.
2. One problem is that many of the place names connected with the Boiotian
cults of the Muses and nymphs are duplicated from the Macedonian district
of Pieria.
3. The Asopos River: the father of many desirable nymphs
a. Two rivers: one in Boiotia and another in Peloponnesian Philos—
the myths of both rivers are merged into one legend claimed by both locales.
b. Two important daughters of Asopos: Thebes and Aigina
c. Thebes was a city adjacent to Boiotian Asopos.
d. Aigina was a daughter who was abducted by Zeus and founds the line
of Achilles and Ajax.
4. Normally nymphs were not worshipped individually but as traditionally
pluralities. This was a tension in Boiotia as there was also the need to
recognize individual nymphs as ancestors.
5. Mentions Meliaash tree nymphs, formed from the blood of Heaven.
She had a exalted place at Apollo’s sanctuary at Thebes.
6. The cult of Halia Nymphe (Sea Nymph)was important in the Boiotian
region Oropos. Little is known about this cult.
* Euboia
1. Two Daughters of Asopos: Chalkis and Eubioa
a. Chalkis: had a sanctuary calling her archegetis (founder)
b. Eubioa: was beloved of Poseidon and bore a local heroTychios.
2. Also has a Dionysiac tradition: in which the infant was raised by
nymphs on the island
* Saronic Gulf
1. Aigina, Asopos daughter— who was pursued by Zeus
2. She founds the Myrmidons and the lineage of Achilles and Ajax
3. Scenes on Attic vases of Aigina’s abduction by Zeus may be a metaphor
for the growing self-assertion of Athenian male citizenry. Athens eventually
subjugated the Aiginetans.
* Megara
1. Famous fountain house built by the tyrant Theagenes.
2. The fountain house was associated with the Sithnid nymphs.
a. These nymphs were locally important as the primordial hero Megaros
was a child of Zeus and one of these nymphs.
* Phokis
1. Mount Parnassos
a. was home to a primordial oracular shrin with a mountain nymph named
Daphnis as its prophet.
b. Korykian cave was the most popular cave of the nymphs in antiquity.
2. The Delphic springs Kastalia and Kassotis
* Peloponnese and Corinth
* Corinth
1. Peirene: famous fountain housea nymph who bore to Poseidon two
sons, one of whom was killed by Artemis.
a. She was turned into a spring while weeping over her dead son.
b. This was the spring where Bellerophon tamed Pegasos
2. Glauke: “Gleaming, silvery”— another famous fountain
house
a. the spring may be named after the princess who was poisoned by Medea,
and threw herself into the river to relief her anguish.
* Argolis
1. The river Inachos: who is the primordial father of Argive heros Phoroneus,
Danaos, and ultimately Perseus and Herakles.
2. The lack of water in Argos
a. This problem was mythically created by Inachos choosing Hera over
Poseidon as patron of Argolis.
b. Poseidon rescued the Danaid Amymone from a lustful satyr. The two
had a love affair and Poseidon relented providing water to Argos.
3. The saga of Perseus: three nymphs give him the tools he needs to
defeat Medusa.
4. Lerna: the location of the Hydradepicted as a nymph reacheing
out to Herakles as he kill the beast.
* Lakonia, Messenia, and Arkadia
1. In Sparta: a cult of Helen replaced the typical worship of nymphs
2. Both in Messenia and Arkadia: stories of the birth of Zeus
a. Messenia: Zeus was reared by the mountain Ithome, two nymphs, and
the river Neda.
b. Arkandian: Zeus was reared by three nymphsNeda, Theisoa, and
Hagno. Rhea purified herself in the river Lymax.
3. The Peloponnesian tradition focuses on water and its role in purification
after birth and the cleansing of the infant.
4. This focus on purification is different from the typical focus of
nymphs as providing nourishment and education.
5. Pan: he is honored in Arkadia in exclusive sanctuaries without his
typical nymphs.
6. Pan has three nymph loves in Arkadia: Syrinx, Echo, and Pitys
7. The river Styx is also an Arkadian nymph.
a. Styx is both an underworld and earthly river
8. In Arkadia, nymphs are rarely worshiped in pluralitycontrasts
to Boiotia.
* Elis and Achaia
1. The River Alpheios was famed for his sexual aggressiveness.
a. He attempted a rape of Artemis
b. From this story originated the ritual of abducting girls from a chorus
line as a mythic paradigm for marriage.
2. The River Ladon: a young man fell in love with Ladon’s daugher Daphne—
when he was discovered the nymph killed the boy.
3. Sanctuary of Olympia: there were three altars to the nymphs
4. The unusual cult and temple of Hades found in Triphylia
a. Minthe: was a nymph who was a lover of Hades, invoking the rage of
his wife who turned her into a garden mint.
Return to Main Page: CLST 4003H. Greek Religion
Honors Colloquium. Spring, 2002.
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