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[German version] (Κυμοδόκη; Kymodóke, Cymodoce, ‘wave-receiver’).  Nereid who calms the wind and waves, in Hes. Theog. 252f., Hom. Il. 18,39, Verg. Aen. 5,826 (accordingly Verg. G. 4,338) and 10,225 ( Cymodocea: Aeneas's ship turned into a nymph), Hyg. Fab. praef. 8, Stat. Silv. 2,2,20. Also represented on vases [1]. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) Bibliography 1 N. Icard-Gianolio, s.v. Kymodoke, LIMC 6.1, 163f.

[German version] (Νησαίη, -α/ Nēsaíē, -a; Lat. Nesaee, -a, also Nisaee: Verg. Aen. 5,826 ‘(N. from the island ’). One of the most frequently mentioned Nereids (Hes. Theog. 249; Hom. Il. 18,40; Hyg. Fab. praef. 8; Apollod. 1,12; Verg. Aen. 5,826; Prop. 2,26,16). Name found on the lid of an Attic red-figured lekanis [1]. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) Bibliography 1 N. Icard-Gianolio, s.v. Nesaea, LIMC 6.1, 838.

[German version] (Μόλορχος/ Mólorchos, Μόλορκος/ Mólorkos: reconstructed in its original form in [1]). Poor elderly farmer from Cleonae, host to Heracles [1] before and after his battle against the Nemeic lion; inventor of mousetraps. Famous because of Callimachus' Victoria Berenices (SH 254-268C) at the beginning of the 3rd book of the Aítia, to which later mentions of M. as an examplar of hospitality refer (Verg. G. 3,19; Ps.-Tib. 4,1,12f.; Stat. Theb. 4,159ff.; Nonnus, Dion. 17,52ff.; versions of the myth in Probus on Verg. G. 3,19; Apollod. 2,74f.). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groninge…

[German version] (Γαλαξαύρη; Galaxaúrē).  Oceanid, mentioned in Hes. Theog. 353 (alongside Plexaure) and in H. Hom. 5,423 (based on that Orph. Fr. 49,26) where she picks flowers with Persephone when the latter is abducted by Hades. The etymology of the name is uncertain (for hypotheses see [1; 2]). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) Bibliography 1 E. Maass, Aglaurion, in: MDAI(A) 35, 1910, 338 2 P. Kretschmer, Mythische Namen, in: Glotta 10, 1920, 51ff.

(Ἱπποθόη/ Hippothóē, ‘the one as fast as a horse’). In [1] and [3], the name indicates a connection to Poseidon and the sea. [German version] [1] Nereid  Nereid (Hes. Theog. 251; Apollod. 1,11). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Daughter and murderess of Pelias One of the daughters of  Pelias, who - deceived by  Medea's cunning - dismembered their father and boiled him in order to rejuvenate him (Apollod. 1,95; Hyg. Fab. 24). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [3] Daughter of Mestor and Lysidice Daughter of  Mestor and  Lysidice, abducted by Poseido…

(Ὠκεανός/ Ōkeanós, Latin Oceanus). [German version] I. Myth Divine representative of the world river, later world sea, that flows in a ring around the earth. In Homer's Iliad O. lives with his wife Tethys on the boundaries of the earth (Hom. Il. 14,200ff.) and is the only god who does not take part in the meeting on Olympus (ibid. 20,7). He is the origin of the gods and of absolutely everything (ibid. 14,201 = 302; 246); from him flow the seas, the rivers, the springs and the wells (ibid. 21,195ff.). Nevertheless he is subordinate to the power of Zeus (ibid. 14,244-248; 21,198f.). Hera's tale of…

(Ἁλία, Ἁλίη; Halía, Halíē), ‘belonging to the sea’ [1]. [German version] [1] Nereid  Nereid catalogued [2] in Hom. Il. 18,40, Hes. Theog. 245 (θ' Ἁλίη [3]; but Θαλίη [4]) and Apollod. 1,11. A female figure on the lid of an Attic red-figured lekanis is labelled H. [5]. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Beloved of Poseidon According to a Rhodian myth in Diod. Sic. 5,55, sister of the  Telchines, who raised Poseidon. H. had seven children by the latter ─ six sons and a daughter, Rhodos. The sons were driven insane by Aphrodite as punish…

[German version] (Ἰδυῖα/ Idyîa, also Εἰδυῖα/ Eidyîa, ‘the knowing one’).  Oceanid (Hes. Theog. 352), wife of  Aeëtes, mother of  Medea (Hes. Theog. 960; Soph. fr. 546 TrGF; Apoll. Rhod. 3,243; Lycoph. 1024; Cic. Nat. D. 3,48; Ov. Epist. 17,232; Apollod. 1,129; Hyg. Fab. 25) and of  Chalciope [2], only in Tzetz. Lycoph. 798, 1024, mother of  Apsyrtus [1] as well. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen)

(Ἴδη; Ídē, Lat. Ida). [German version] [1] Nymph of the Ida mountains in the Troad Eponymous nymph of the  Ida mountains [2] in the Troad (Ps.-Plut. 13,3 = GGM 2,652), in Vergil (A. 9,177), mother of  Nisus, and a huntress; image with caption on the coins of Scamandria and Scepsis [1]. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) [German version] [2] Nymph of the Cret. Ida Eponymous nymph of the Cretan  Ida [1], daughter of Melisseus/Melissus or of Corybas, mother of the  Daktyloi Idaioi by Dactylus (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,1129) or Zeus (Stesimbrotus FGrH 107 F 12). Accor…

[German version] (Ὠκεανίδες/ Ōkeanídes, older form Ὠκεανῖναι/ Ōkeanînai, Lat. Oceanitides). Daughters of Oceanus and of Tethys, of whom Hesiod lists the 41 eldest by name while their total number like that of their brothers, the rivers, amounts to 3,000 (Hes. Theog. 346-370). Additional O. catalogues are to be found in Hom. H. 2,418ff.; Orph. fr. 49,21ff.; Apollod. 1,8; Hyg. Fab. praef. 6; Hyg. Fab. 182; Verg. G. 4,334ff. Occasional O. are probably old deities of the Underworld [1] like Styx, the oldest …

[German version] (ἅλιος γέρων; hálios gérōn, ‘Old Man of the Sea’). Old sea deity, originally without a name of his own, later identified with  Nereus,  Proteus,  Phorcys and  Glaucus, with whom he shares the characteristics of old age, gift of prophecy, and ability to change shape [1; 2]. In the Iliad, Halios geron (HG) appears as the father of  Thetis and the  Nereids (Hom. Il. 1,358; 538 = 556; 18,141; 20,107; 24,562; Hom. Od. 24,58), but he is not explicitly equated with Nereus until Hesiod (Theog. 234; 1003; cf. schol. Pind. Pyth. 9,164 Drach…

[German version] (Σελλοί/ Selloí). Inhabitants of Dodona, priests of the oracle of Zeus there. The S. appear as early as in Homer as its interpreters (Hom. Il. 16,234 f.; cf. Soph. Trach. 1166 f.; Callim. H. 4,286; Callim. Fr. 186,14). Their attributes (not washing their feet and sleeping on the ground) suggest a ritual connexion with the earth. The archaic priesthood of the S. later passed to the female Peleiades (Str. 7,7,12). As a variant name Helloí is recorded (ScholiaIl 16,234; Pind. Fr. 59; Callim. Fr. 675; Str. 7,7,10); it is often assumed that there is an ety…

[German version] (Ἑσπερίδες; Hesperídes, Latin: Hesperides). According to Hesiod (Theog. 215f.; 275), clear-voiced daughters of Night ( Nyx), who guard the golden apples on the far side of Oceanus. Genealogy (parents: Nyx and Erebus, Atlas, or Hesperus; Phorcys and Ceto), number (three to seven) and names (Aegle, Erythea, Hesperethusa: Hes. fr. 360 M.-W.; Hespere, Erytheis, Aegle: Apoll. Rhod. 4,1427f.) vary in the ancient sources. The Garden of the H., where the dragon  Ladon guarded the tree with t…

[German version] (Γαλήνη / Galḗne, ‘calmness of the sea’).  Nereid in Hes. Theog. 244; according to the Euhemerist Mnaseas, daughter of Ichthys and Hesychia (FHG 3 155,33). As embodiment of the sea's brighter aspect, G. smoothes the waves in Anth. Pal. 5,156 (Meleager) and 7,668 (Leonidas) as well as in Lucian 5. ‘Conversation of the sea-gods’. An epigram by Adaeus (Anth. Pal. 9,544) describes a cameo of Tryphon with the portrait of G. that, however, cannot be unequivocally identified with extant m…

[German version] (Θειοδάμας/ Theiodámas; Lat. Theodamas, Thiodamas). King of the Dryopes, who were driven from their homeland by Heracles [1]; father of Hylas. A connexion is made in Hellenistic literature between T. and the resettlement of the brigand Dryopes in the Peloponnese (Bacchyl. Paean 4; Hdt. 8,43; 8,47; Diod. Sic. 4,37) - perhaps following Hesiod's Kḗykos gámos ('the wedding of Ceyx', Hes. fr. 263-269; [1]): in Apollonius Rhodius (1,1211-1219) as a pretext for war Heracles provokes a conflict over the ploughing bull of T., a poor farmer, w…

[German version] (Γλαυκονόμη; Glaukonómē).  Nereid at Hes. Theog. 256 and Apollod. 1,11. Her name means ‘she who lives/rules in the glossy (γλαυκός; cf.  Glauce) sea’ [1]. For the word formation, cf. the names Amphinome: ‘she who rules widely’ and Eurynome: ‘she who rules for miles around’ (Hom. Il. 18,44; 398f.). Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen) Bibliography 1 G. Herzog-Hauser, s.v. Nereiden, RE 17, 15.

[German version] (Λοξώ; Loxṓ). Hyperborean woman ( Hyperborei); mentioned in Callim. H. 4,292 as the third daughter of Boreas, aside from Upis ( Opis) and Hecaerge [4], who brought gifts to Delos and are buried there (accordingly Nonnus, Dion. 5,489; 48,334). The name connects her with Apollo Loxias. Ambühl, Annemarie (Groningen)