Oceanids, both in Greek and Roman mythology, usually refer to the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 555 ff (trans. [12], Like Metis, the Oceanids also functioned as the wives (or lovers) of many gods, and the mothers, by these gods, of many other gods and goddesses. MELIA (2) An Okeanis named "honey-sweet" who was loved by the god Apollon. Water Spirits of the Ocean Water Spirits of the Ocean God of the Day When Persephone was missing, life on Earth was barren, a phenomenon related to the unproductive colder months. [15] Eurynome, Zeus' third wife, was the mother of the Charites. ASIA The Okeanis Nymphe of the region of Asia (or rather Anatolian peninsular). Offspring of fruitful (polyteknos) Tethys and of him who with his sleepless current encircles the whole earth, children of your father Okeanos (Oceanus), behold, see with what fetters, upon the summit crag of this ravine, I am to hold my unenviable watch Theoi Project © Copyright 2000 - 2017 Aaron J. Atsma, Netherlands & New Zealand, (Hesiod Theogony 346, Aeschylus Prometheus 136, Apollodorus 1.8, Hyginus Preface Nonnus Dionysiaca 38.108), (Apollodorus 1.8, 1.6, 1.13, 1.29, 2.1, 2.106, 3.96, 3.110). Her sister was Europe. [21], As a group, the Oceanids form the chorus of the tragedy Prometheus Bound, coming up from their cave beneath the ground to console the chained Titan Prometheus. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. Some of the eldest of these daughters were marked among the Titans, some such as Doris became transformed into Goddesses. DIONE The Okeanis Nymphe "heavenly" or "divine" was a goddess of the oracle of Dodona in Thesprotia. OKYRHOE (Ocyrhoe) The Okeanis "swift-flowing" was either a Naias of fast flowing spring, or Nephele of falling rain. Who of the gods is so hard of heart as to exult in this? She was the wife of the Titan Ophion. She [Tethys] brought forth also a race apart of daughters [the Okeanides (Oceanids)], who with lord Apollon and the Rivers have the young in their keeping all over the earth, since this right from Zeus is given them. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th or 6th B.C.) KLYTIA (Clytia) An Okeanis named "fame" or "renown" who fell in loved with the Sun-god Helios and was transformed into a sun-gazing heliotrope flower. Océanide, from Gk ōkeanis, ōkeanid : But my soul is agitated by piercing fear, and I am in dread about your fate, wondering to what haven you must steer your ship to see an end of your voyage of sorrow. TYKHE (Tyche) The Okeanis goddess of fortune or chance was probably one of the heavenly Nephelai. She may have been a Naias of a stream of Nephele of rain. She was probably one of the Nephelai. "[Persephone tells Demeter of her abduction :] ‘All we were playing in a lovely meadow, [the Okeanides (Oceanids)] Leukippe and Phaino and Elektra and Ianthe, Melita also and Iakhe with Rhodea and Kallirhoe and Melobosis and Tykhe and Okyrhoe, fair as a flower, Khryseis, Ianeira, Akaste and Admete and Rhodope and Plouto and charming Kalypso; Styx too was there and Ourania and lovely Galaxaura with Pallas [Athena] who rouses battles and Artemis delighting in arrows: we were playing and gathering sweet flowers in our hands, soft crocuses mingled with irises and hyacinths, and rose-blooms and lilies, marvellous to see, and the narcissus which the wide earth caused to grow yellow as a crocus.’", Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 12 ff (trans. She was an attendant of the goddess Aphrodite. She may have been a Naias or Nephele Nymphe, in the sense of a yoked or tamed horse. O•ce•a•nid [[t]oʊˈsi ə nɪd[/t]] n. pl. KAMARINA (Camarina) The Okeanis Nymphe of the city of Kamarina in Sicily. ", Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 415 ff : She was either a Nephele of many rain-bringing clouds, or an Epimelis of the multiplying flocks of the mountain pasture. KHARIKLO (Chariclo) A Okeanis Nymphe of Mount Pelion in Thessalia. Admete was perhaps a goddess of unwedded maidens, her sister Zeuxo, representing the yoke of marriage. "And the maiden [Artemis] fared unto the white moutain of Krete (Crete) leafy with woods; thence unto Okeanos (Oceanus); and she chose many Nymphai (Nymphs) [Okeanides] all nine years old, all maidens yet ungirdled. . : According to one version, he was born by the union of the primal gods Chaos and Gaea, sanctified by god Eros. She was transformed into a linden tree (philyre). [9] And some, like Europa, and Asia, seem associated with areas of land rather than water. des (ō′sē-ăn′ĭ-dēz′) Greek Mythology Any of the ocean nymphs believed to be the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. ", Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1054 ff : O Nysiai [Nysiades], insane (manikoi), whom oaks delight, lovers of spring, Paionian virgins bright; with Bakkhos and with Deo [Demeter] hear my prayer, and to mankind abundant favour bear; propitious listen to your suppliant's voice, come, and benignant in these rites rejoice; give plenteous seasons and sufficient wealth, and pour in lasting streams, continued health.". 8 (trans. of Ὠκεανίς, Ōkeanis) are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. In the late classical era the mythical, earth-encircling, fresh-water river Okeanos was increasily equated with the briny Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and his nymph-daughters reimagined as marine deities. [As the thunder begins to roar, the Okeanides heed the warning and depart.]". Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) [24] Some names, consistent with the Oceanids' charge of having "youths in their keeping", represent things which parents might hope to be bestowed upon their children: Plouto ("Wealth"), Tyche ("Good Fortune"), Idyia ("Knowing"), and Metis ("Wisdom"). The Titan god Oceanus Oceanus came from the generation preceding that of Zeus, for Oceanus was a Titan god, the son of Ouranos (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). ], Virgil, Georgics 4. PEITHO The Okeanis goddess of persuasion and seduction. Yet I am ashamed to tell about the storm of calamity sent by Heaven, of the marring of my form, and of the source from which it swooped upon me, wretched that I am. They were often portrayed as the wives of the Potamoi (River-Gods) and mothers of younger Naiades. THEIOSA An Okeanis nurse of the infant Zeus in Arkadia (Arcadia). She may have been the same as Klymene 2. MEROPE The Okeanis "with face turned" was the mother of Phaethon by the god Helios. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) LEUKE (Leuce) An Okeanis named "the white" who was loved by Haides god of the underworld. She was the Naias of the Theban spring Ismene. STYX The Okeanis goddess of the Arkadian River Styx. ", Pseudo-Hyginus, Preface (trans. EURYNOME 1 The Okeanis Nymphe of "broad-pastures". Greco-Roman Antioch Floor Mosaic C3rd A.D. Greco-Roman Zeugma Floor Mosaic C2nd A.D. Other references not currently quoted here: Nonnos Dionysiaca 26.355 & 41.153 & 48.246. [Greek ōkeanis, ōkeanid-, from Ōkeanos, Oceanus.] ", Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 894 ff : Oceanus took his sister Tethys as his lover, and together, they had over three thousand children. Her sister Doris presided over the Dorians. While some were important figures, most were not. Each was the patroness of a particular spring, river, sea, lake, pond, pasture, flower or cloud. O•ce•a•nids, O•ce•an•i•des [[t]ˌoʊ siˈæn ɪˌdiz[/t]] myt any of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys; a sea nymph • Etymology: < Gk Ōkeanídes daughters of Oceanus " [The chorus of Okeanides (Oceanids) address Prometheus :] This song, which, about your [Prometheus'] bridal bed and bath, I raised to grace your marriage, when you wooed with gifts and won my sister [the Okeanis] Hesione to be your wedded wife.". ", Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 528 ff : Chorus [of Okeanides] : I see, Prometheus; and over my eyes a mist of tears and fear spread as I saw your body withering ignominiously upon this rock in these bonds of adamant. The nymphs were usually associated with fertile, growing things, such as trees, or with water. . Oceanus was married to his sister, Tethys, with whom he had numerous children, called Oceanids. [1], The Oceanids' father Oceanus was the great primordial world-encircling river, their mother Tethys was a sea goddess, and their brothers the Potamoi (also three thousand in number) were the personifications of the great rivers of the world. And the River Kairatos (Caeratus) was glad exceedingly, and glad was Tethys that they were sending their daughters to be handmaidens to the daughter of Leto.". Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) She may have been the Naias of a local spring or well, and was perhaps the same as the Okeanis Dione. Those of Okeanos (Oceanus) and Tethys were called Okeanides (Oceanids) : Asia, Styx, Elektra, Doris, Eurynome, Amphitrite, and Metis. LEUKIPPE (Leucippe) The Okeanis "White-Horse" was probably the Nephele or Aura of fast moving clouds, or the Naias of a frothy white spring or mountain stream. She was a sister of Europe and Asia. She was apparently a goddess connected with the power of witchcraft. She was probably the Naias of a pasture-feeding stream. Before they began their legendary voyage to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece, the Argonauts made an offering of flour, honey, and sea to the ocean deities, sacrificed bulls to them, and entreated their protection from the dangers of their journey.[27]. She was a nurse of the god Poseidon. "Loudbooming Okeanos (Oceanus), girdled with the circle of the sky, who leads his water earth-encompassing round the turning point which he bathes, was joined in primeval wedlock with Tethys. Akaste might also have been … The Okeanides were occasionally described as sea-nymphs. KLYMENE 2 (Clymene) The Okeanis of fame was the mother of the Phaethon by Helios the sun. . Her father united the girl to the heavenly charioteer. Homer, Odyssey 10. A nymph is a female spirit associated with a specific location or landform. O'Neill) (Greek comedy C5th to 4th B.C.) "Tethys bore to Okeanos (Oceanus) the swirling Potamoi (Rivers) . Nymph, in Greek mythology, any of a large class of inferior female divinities. This page was last edited on 3 November 2020, at 21:18. RHODOPE The Okeanis "rosey-eyed" was probably either an Anthousa flower-nymphe of Nephele of the rose-coloured clouds of dawn. [2] Hesiod says they are "dispersed far and wide" and everywhere "serve the earth and the deep waters",[3] while in Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, the Argonauts, stranded in the desert of Libya, beg the "nymphs, sacred of the race of Oceanus" to show them "some spring of water from the rock or some sacred flow gushing from the earth". AKASTE (Acaste) An Okeanis whose name means "unstable" or "irregular". Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "Prometheus [who has just been chained to a mountain crag] : Ha! PERSEIS An Okeanis-eponym of Persia and mother by Helios of the eastern despots Aeetes and Perses, and the witches Pasiphae and Kirke. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. Though most nymphs were considered to be minor deities, many Oceanids were significant figures. Unterkategorien. She may have been a Nephele of the violet tinged clouds of dawn, or an Anthousa (flower-nymph) of violets. [8] While their brothers, the Potamoi, were the usual personifications of major rivers, Styx (according to Hesiod the eldest and most important Oceanid) was also the personification of a major river, the underworld's river Styx. For the tone poem by Sibelius, see. In Greek mythology and, later, Roman mythology, the Oceanids (Ancient Greek: Ὠκεανίδες, pl. The Naias-Okeanides (Naiads) were primarily nymphs of springs, wells and fountains. Callirrhoe (Oceanid) For other uses, see Callirhoe (mythology). TELESTO The Okeanis goddess of success and accomplishment. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : The Manchester-born painter Annie Swynnerton, the first woman to be admitted to the Royal Academy in 1922, painted a work called Oceanid some time before 1908. RHODEIA The Okeanis named "of the roses" or "rose-coloured" was either an Anthousa flower-nymphe, Naias of a rose-draped spring, or Nephele of the rose-tinged clouds of dawn. ZEUXO An Okeanis named "the yoked" was probably a goddess of marriage, brides being yoked in marriage. She was probably either the Naias of a fast-flowing spring or an Aura of the swift breeze. O'Neill) (Greek comedy C5th to 4th B.C.) Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) The Oceanid Electra. Prometheus : It is for you, Io, to grant them this favor, especially since they [the Okeanides] are your father's [Inakhos' (Inachus')] sisters. They are the sisters to the Potamoi. 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