Difference between revisions of "Nymph" - New World Encyclopedia
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==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
| − | The [[ | + | The exact origin for the word nymph is obscure. The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] claims that the word nymph comes from the [[Latin langauge|Latin]] ''nympha'', which is the Latinized [[Greek language|Greek]] word νύμφη, which roughly translates as "bride".<ref>(1971) "Oxford English Dictionary" Oxford Press: ISBN 019861117X </ref> |
| − | == | + | ==Origin== |
| − | + | The idea of the Nymph comes out nature worship, in particular a reverence for the idea of [[fertility]]. Women, being the barers of children, were seen as human representations of the ability for life to grow and flourish in nature. Coupled with the belief that nature was inhabitated by personified spirits, the ideas eventually merged into the belief in female spirits that protected and actually helped nourish nature and life. | |
| + | |||
| + | ==Description== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Originally, there was no distinction among the nymphs; they were all treated as almost identical creatures.<ref>Rose, Herbert Jennings. 1959. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. New York, NY: E.P. Dutton & Co. ISBN 0525470417</ref> They were generally depicted as young and beautiful, but more importantly as healthy females who were are the perfect stage to beginning reproducing, a significant connection between them and fertility deities. They were said to be enchanting to humans, particularly males and had etheral qualities. However, as time went on, the nymphs evolved into several different sub-classifications, based on the type of environment they inhabitated, which is how they are generally depicted as today. | ||
===Classifications=== | ===Classifications=== | ||
| Line 53: | Line 57: | ||
==Nymphs in modern Greek folklore== | ==Nymphs in modern Greek folklore== | ||
[[Image:SophieAndersonTheHeadOfANymph.jpg|left|225px|thumb|'''The Head of a Nymph''' by [[Sophie Anderson]]]] | [[Image:SophieAndersonTheHeadOfANymph.jpg|left|225px|thumb|'''The Head of a Nymph''' by [[Sophie Anderson]]]] | ||
| − | The ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country into the early years of the twentieth century, when they were usually known as "[[nereids]]." At that time John Cuthbert Lawson wrote: "...there is probably no nook or hamlet in all Greece where the womenfolk at least do not scrupulously take precautions against the thefts and malice of the nereids, while many a man may still be found to recount in all good faith stories of their beauty, passion and caprice. Nor is it a matter of faith only; more than once I have been in villages where certain Nereids were known by sight to several persons (so at least they averred); and there was a wonderful agreement among the witnesses in the description of their appearance and dress."<ref>John Cuthbert | + | The ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country into the early years of the twentieth century, when they were usually known as "[[nereids]]." At that time John Cuthbert Lawson wrote: "...there is probably no nook or hamlet in all Greece where the womenfolk at least do not scrupulously take precautions against the thefts and malice of the nereids, while many a man may still be found to recount in all good faith stories of their beauty, passion and caprice. Nor is it a matter of faith only; more than once I have been in villages where certain Nereids were known by sight to several persons (so at least they averred); and there was a wonderful agreement among the witnesses in the description of their appearance and dress."<ref>Lawson, John Cuthbert. 1910. Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion". Cambridge University Press: ISBN: 0766176444</ref> |
Usually female, they were dressed in white, decked with garlands of flowers, but they frequently had unnatural legs, like those of a goat, donkey or cow. They were so beautiful that the highest compliment was to compare some feature of a woman (eyes, hair, etc.) with that of nereid. They could move swiftly and invisibly, ride through the air and slip through small holes. Although not immortal, their lives exeeded man's tenfold, and they retained their beauty until death. | Usually female, they were dressed in white, decked with garlands of flowers, but they frequently had unnatural legs, like those of a goat, donkey or cow. They were so beautiful that the highest compliment was to compare some feature of a woman (eyes, hair, etc.) with that of nereid. They could move swiftly and invisibly, ride through the air and slip through small holes. Although not immortal, their lives exeeded man's tenfold, and they retained their beauty until death. | ||
| − | They tended to frequent areas distant from man, but could be encountered by lone travellers outside the village, where their music might be heard, and the traveller could spy on their dancing or bathing in a stream or pool, either during the noon heat or in the middle of the night. They might appear in a whirlwind. Such encounters could be dangerous, bringing dumbness, besotted infatuation, madness or stroke to the unfortunate human. When parents believed their child to be nereid-struck they would pray to Saint Artemidos, the Christian manifestation of [[Artemis]].<ref>John L. | + | They tended to frequent areas distant from man, but could be encountered by lone travellers outside the village, where their music might be heard, and the traveller could spy on their dancing or bathing in a stream or pool, either during the noon heat or in the middle of the night. They might appear in a whirlwind. Such encounters could be dangerous, bringing dumbness, besotted infatuation, madness or stroke to the unfortunate human. When parents believed their child to be nereid-struck they would pray to Saint Artemidos, the Christian manifestation of [[Artemis]].<ref>Tomkinson, John L. 2004. Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and other Exotika. Athens: Anagnosis. ISBN 9608808707</ref> |
| − | Stock stories about nereids include the girl who fell ill and died and was seen after death dancing with the nereids; the nereid changeling; and the man who won a nereid as his wife by stealing a piece of her clothing. The latter would become an ideal wife until she recovered her clothing and returned to her own people. | + | Stock stories about nereids include the girl who fell ill and died and was seen after death dancing with the nereids; the nereid changeling; and the man who won a nereid as his wife by stealing a piece of her clothing. The latter would become an ideal wife until she recovered her clothing and returned to her own people. |
==Foreign adaptations== | ==Foreign adaptations== | ||
Revision as of 15:58, 9 July 2007
In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature entities, either bound to a particular location or landform, such as mountains, groves, springs, rivers, valleys and cool grottos, or joining the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally Artemis. Nymphs were the frequent target of lusty satyrs, their male counterpart.
Etymology
The exact origin for the word nymph is obscure. The Oxford English Dictionary claims that the word nymph comes from the Latin nympha, which is the Latinized Greek word νύμφη, which roughly translates as "bride".[1]
Origin
The idea of the Nymph comes out nature worship, in particular a reverence for the idea of fertility. Women, being the barers of children, were seen as human representations of the ability for life to grow and flourish in nature. Coupled with the belief that nature was inhabitated by personified spirits, the ideas eventually merged into the belief in female spirits that protected and actually helped nourish nature and life.
Description
Originally, there was no distinction among the nymphs; they were all treated as almost identical creatures.[2] They were generally depicted as young and beautiful, but more importantly as healthy females who were are the perfect stage to beginning reproducing, a significant connection between them and fertility deities. They were said to be enchanting to humans, particularly males and had etheral qualities. However, as time went on, the nymphs evolved into several different sub-classifications, based on the type of environment they inhabitated, which is how they are generally depicted as today.
Classifications
The following is not the Greek classification, but is intended simply as a guide:
- Land Nymphs
- Alseids (glens, groves)
- Napaeae (mountain valleys, glens)
- Auloniads (pastures)
- Leimakids (meadows)
- Oreads (mountains, grottoes)
- Minthe (mint)
- Hesperides (garden)
- Aegle ("dazzling light")
- Arethusa
- Erytheia (or Eratheis)
- Hesperia (or Hispereia)
- Hespera (or Hespere)
- Hamadryads (trees)
- Water Nymphs
- Helead (fen)
- Oceanids (daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, any water, usually salty)
- Nereids (daughters of Nereus, the Mediterranean Sea)
- Naiads (usually fresh water)
- Crinaeae (fountains)
- Limnades or Limnatides (lakes)
- Pegaeae (springs)
- Potameides (rivers)
- Eleionomae (marshes)
- Wood Nymphs
- "Corycian Nymphs" (Classical Muses)
- Lampades (underworld)
Nymphs in modern Greek folklore
The ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country into the early years of the twentieth century, when they were usually known as "nereids." At that time John Cuthbert Lawson wrote: "...there is probably no nook or hamlet in all Greece where the womenfolk at least do not scrupulously take precautions against the thefts and malice of the nereids, while many a man may still be found to recount in all good faith stories of their beauty, passion and caprice. Nor is it a matter of faith only; more than once I have been in villages where certain Nereids were known by sight to several persons (so at least they averred); and there was a wonderful agreement among the witnesses in the description of their appearance and dress."[3]
Usually female, they were dressed in white, decked with garlands of flowers, but they frequently had unnatural legs, like those of a goat, donkey or cow. They were so beautiful that the highest compliment was to compare some feature of a woman (eyes, hair, etc.) with that of nereid. They could move swiftly and invisibly, ride through the air and slip through small holes. Although not immortal, their lives exeeded man's tenfold, and they retained their beauty until death.
They tended to frequent areas distant from man, but could be encountered by lone travellers outside the village, where their music might be heard, and the traveller could spy on their dancing or bathing in a stream or pool, either during the noon heat or in the middle of the night. They might appear in a whirlwind. Such encounters could be dangerous, bringing dumbness, besotted infatuation, madness or stroke to the unfortunate human. When parents believed their child to be nereid-struck they would pray to Saint Artemidos, the Christian manifestation of Artemis.[4]
Stock stories about nereids include the girl who fell ill and died and was seen after death dancing with the nereids; the nereid changeling; and the man who won a nereid as his wife by stealing a piece of her clothing. The latter would become an ideal wife until she recovered her clothing and returned to her own people.
Foreign adaptations
The Greek nymphs were spirits invariably bound to places, not unlike the Latin genius loci, and the difficulty of transferring their cult may be seen in the complicated myth that brought Arethusa to Sicily. In the works of the Greek-educated Latin poets, the nymphs gradually absorbed into their ranks the indigenous Italian divinities of springs and streams (Juturna, Egeria, Cavmentis, Fontus), while the Lymphae (originally Lumpae), Italian water-goddesses, owing to the accidental similarity of name, could be identified with the Greek Nymphae. The mythologies of classicizing Roman poets were unlikely to have affected the rites and cult of individual nymphs venerated by country people in the springs and clefts of Latium. Among the Roman literate class their sphere of influence was restricted, and they appear almost exclusively as divinities of the watery element.
Pop Culture
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Unlike mermaids, few nymphs have been depicted on film, in television, or in other forms of mass media and popular culture. Among them are:
- Nymphs appear frequently in fantasy fiction, including the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, the Xanth series by Piers Anthony, and The Belgariad by David Eddings
- Lady in the Water (2006), a film by M. Night Shyamalan, which features a water nymph (called a Narf) of a mythology he created for the movie.
- Nymph was the title of a pornographic movie, with Chasey Lain as a water nymph.
- Nymphs appear as creatures in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons and in many videogames, including EverQuest, Fable, Age of Wonders and Daggerfall.
- In The Tempest, Ariel appears as a water nymph in Act 1 Scene 2.
- Richard III longs "To strut before a wanton ambling nymph."
- The term nymphomaniac is derived from their name.
Footnotes
- ↑ (1971) "Oxford English Dictionary" Oxford Press: ISBN 019861117X
- ↑ Rose, Herbert Jennings. 1959. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. New York, NY: E.P. Dutton & Co. ISBN 0525470417
- ↑ Lawson, John Cuthbert. 1910. Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion". Cambridge University Press: ISBN: 0766176444
- ↑ Tomkinson, John L. 2004. Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and other Exotika. Athens: Anagnosis. ISBN 9608808707
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Rose, Herbert Jennings. 1959. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. New York, NY: E.P. Dutton & Co. ISBN 0525470417
- Lawson, John Cuthbert. 1910. Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion. Cambridge University Press.
- Tomkinson, John L. 2004. Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and other Exotika. Athens: Anagnosis. ISBN 9608808707
- [Nereids]
- Burkert, Walter. 1985. Greek Religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674362810
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Lawson, John Cuthbert, Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1910 p131
- Tomkinson, John L., Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and other Exotika, Anagnosis, Athens, 2004, ISBN 960-88087-0-7
- Information page
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