Nereids#Name

{{further|Nereus#Name}}

It is not known whether the name Nereus was known to Homer or not, but the name of the Nereids is attested before it, and can be found in the Iliad.{{harvnb|Tsantsanoglou|2015|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Chantraine|1968|p=751}}; {{Cite web |title=Νηρεύς – Ancient Greek (LSJ) |url=https://lsj.gr/wiki/%CE%9D%CE%B7%CF%81%CE%B5%CF%8D%CF%82#Greek_Monolingual |website=lsj.gr}} Since Nereus only has relevance as the father of the Nereids, it has been suggested that his name could actually be derived from that of his daughters;{{harvnb|Beekes|van Beek|2010|pp=ix, xliii, 1017}}; {{harvnb|Tsantsanoglou|2015|p=14}} while the derivation of the Nereids from Nereus, as a patronymic, has also been suggested.{{harvnb|Beekes|van Beek|2010|pp=ix, xliii, 1017}} According to Martin Litchfield West (1966), Nereus is much less important than his daughters, mentioning that Herodotus offered "the Nereids, not Nereus, as an example of a divine name not derived from Egypt".{{harvnb|Litchfield West|1966|p=233}}

The name of the Nereids has survived in modern Greek folklore as νεράιδες, {{transliteration|el|neráides}} {{gloss|fairies}}.{{harvnb|Chantraine|1968|p=751}}; {{harvnb|Papachristophorou|1998|p=190}}; {{harvnb|Litchfield West|1966|p=233}}

File:French Empire mantel clock.jpg (1822) depicting the nereid Galatea velificans]]

The Nereids symbolized everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. Their melodious voices sang as they danced around their father. They are represented as beautiful women, crowned with branches of red coral and dressed in white silk robes trimmed with gold.

These nymphs are particularly associated with the Aegean Sea, where they dwelt with their father Nereus in the depths within a golden palace.{{cite web|last1=Atsma|first1=Aaron J.|title=Nereides|url=http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Nereides.html|access-date=7 March 2016|website=Theoi Project Greek Mythology}} The most notable of them are Thetis, wife of Peleus and mother of Achilles; Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon and mother of Triton; Galatea, the vain love interest of the Cyclops Polyphemus, and lastly, Psamathe who became the mother of Phocus by King Aeacus of Aegina, and Theoclymenus and Theonoe by Proteus, a sea-god or king of Egypt.

In Homer's Iliad XVIII, when Thetis cries out in sympathy for the grief of Achilles for the slain Patroclus, her sisters appear.Homer, Iliad [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D18%3Acard%3D22 18.39–18.51] Four of her siblings, Cymodoce, Thalia, Nesaea and Spio were also among the nymphs in the train of Cyrene.Virgil, Georgics 4.338 Later on, these four together with their other sisters Thetis, Melite and Panopea, were able to help the hero Aeneas and his crew during a storm.Virgil, Aeneid 5.825–5.826

In one account, Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereides, who were enraged by the claim. Poseidon, in sympathy for them, sent a flood and a sea monster to the land of the Aethiopians, demanding as well the sacrifice of the princess.Apollodorus, 2.4.3; Hyginus, Fabulae 64, De Astronomica 2.10 with Euripides and Sophocles as the authority; Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.16 ff. These sea goddesses also were said to reveal to men the mysteries of Dionysus and Persephone.Orphic Hymns 24.10{{Cite book|last=Kerényi|first=Carl|title=The Gods of the Greeks|publisher=Thames and Hudson|year=1951|location=London|pages=66}}

This list is correlated from four sources: Homer's Iliad,Homer, Iliad [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D18%3Acard%3D22 18.39–18.51] Hesiod's Theogony,Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D240 240–262] the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-ApollodorusApollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.2.7&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 1.2.7] and the Fabulae of Hyginus.Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206 Preface] Because of this, the total number of names goes beyond fifty.{{cite web|url=http://www.maicar.com/GML/NEREIDS.html|title=Nereids|last1=Parada|first1=Carlos|website=Greek Mythology Link|access-date=7 March 2016}}

|✓

|

|

|✓

|

|Feeds Poseidon's flock

|

|

|Consort of Poseidon
The name of an OceanidApollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.2 1.2.2] & [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.4.5 1.4.5]

|✓

|Virgil, Georgics [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi002.perseus-eng1:4.333-4.386 4.345]

|The name of an Oceanid;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+349 349–361]; Hyginus, Fabulae 156; Tzetzes, Chiliades [https://books.google.com/books?id=dG0GAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA133 4.19.359] appeared to Thetis when she cried out in sympathy for the grief of Achilles for Patroclus.

File:Sea thiasos Nereis Glyptothek Munich 239 front n1.jpg

In ancient art the Nereides appear in the retinue of Poseidon, Amphitrite, Thetis and other sea-divinities. On black-figure Greek vases they appear fully clothed, such as on a Corinthian hydra (sixth century BCE; Paris) where they stand near the bier of Achilles. Later vase-paintings depict them nude or partially nude, mounted on dolphins, sea-horses or other marine creatures, and often grouped together with Tritons. They appear as such on Roman frescoes and sarcophagi. An Etruscan bronze cista from Palestrina depicts winged Nereides.

Famous is the Nereid Monument, a marble tomb from Xanthos (Lycia, Asia Minor), partially in the collection of the British Museum. At the top is a small temple surrounded by pillars between which Nereides stood. They were depicted in motion and with billowing, transparent clothes. The style is Attic-Ionian and dates to {{circa|400 BCE}}.

In the Renaissance and baroque periods the Nereid was frequently used to decorate fountains and garden monuments.

File:The Nereid Monument. From Xanthos (Lycia), modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey. 390-380 BCE. Room 17, the British Museum, London.jpg. From Xanthos (Lycia), modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey. 390–380 BC. Room 17, the British Museum, London]]

Nereides were worshiped in several parts of Greece, but more especially in seaport towns, such as Cardamyle,Pausanias, 3.2.5 and on the Isthmus of Corinth.Pausanias, 2.1.7 The epithets given them by the poets refer partly to their beauty and partly to their place of abode.

In modern Greek folklore, the term "nereid" ({{langx|el|νεράιδα|neráida|label=none}}) has come to be used for all nymphs, fairies, or mermaids, not merely nymphs of the sea.{{Cite book|last=Zervas|first=Theodore G.|title=Formal and Informal Education During the Rise of Greek Nationalism: Learning to be Greek|publisher=Springer|year=2016|isbn=9781137484154|pages=121}}

The {{transliteration|el|neraida}} appears in modern Greek folktales as a kind of supernatural wife, akin to the swan maiden, and gives its name to the homonymous type in the Catalogue of Greek Folktales: tale type ATU 400, "The Neraïda". She has been compared to the nymph, the female character of ancient Greek mythology.Mitakidou, Soula; Manna, Anthony L.; Kanatsouli, Melpomeni. Folktales of Greece: A Treasury of Delights. Greenwood Press/Libraries Unlimited, 2002. p. 15. {{ISBN|1-56308-908-4}}.Blagojevic, Gordana. "Женидба вилом и нерајдом: јужнословенско-грчке фолклорне паралеле" [Marrying a Fairy and a Nereid: South Slavic-Greek Folk Parallels]. In: [https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/handle/123456789/7573 Заједничко у словенском фолклору: зборник радова] [Common Elements in Slavic Folklore: Collected Papers, 2012]. Београд: Балканолошки институт САНУ, 2012. p. 178. {{ISBN|9788671790741}}. She is said to inhabit water sources (rivers and wells),{{cite journal |last1=Dawkins |first1=R. M. |title=Folklore in Stories from the Dodecanese |journal=Folklore |date=1942 |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=5–26 |doi=10.1080/0015587X.1942.9718288 |jstor=1257708 }} similar to their ancient mythical counterpart, the Nereids (water nymphs).{{cite journal |last1=Håland |first1=Evy Johanne |title=Water Sources and the Sacred in Modern and Ancient Greece and Beyond |journal=Water History |date=December 2009 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=83–108 |doi=10.1007/s12685-009-0008-1 |bibcode=2009WatHi...1...83H |s2cid=154379238 }}{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=D. Demetracopoulou |title=Folklore of the Greeks in America |journal=Folklore |date=1936 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=294–310 |doi=10.1080/0015587X.1936.9718647 |jstor=1256865 }} However, in modern speech, the term also encompasses fairy maidens from mountains and woodlands.{{cite book |last=Lawson |first=John Cuthbert |title=Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion |url=https://archive.org/details/moderngreekfolkl00laws |edition=1st |year=1910 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |page=[https://archive.org/details/moderngreekfolkl00laws/page/130 130]}}

Greek folklorist Nicolaos Politis amassed a great amount of modern folkloric material regarding the {{transliteration|el|neraida}}.{{cite journal |last1=Λουκατος |first1=Δημητριος σ. |title=Les néréides en Grèce, êtres toujours légendaires, aussi bien maritimes que terrestres |journal=Le Monde alpin et rhodanien. Revue régionale d'ethnologie |date=1982 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=293–299 |doi=10.3406/mar.1982.1164 }} In modern tales from Greek tellers, the {{transliteration|el|neraides}} are said to dance at noon or at midnight; to have beautiful golden hair; to dress in white or rose garments and to appear wearing a veil on the head, or holding a handkerchief. Due to their beauty, young men are drawn to the {{transliteration|el|neraides}} and steal their veils or kerchiefs to force their stay in the mortal realm. The women marry these men, but later regain their piece of clothing back and disappear forever.Lawson, John Cuthbert (1910). Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 132–133, 135–136, 138–139. Greek scholar Anna Angeloupoulos terms this storyline The Stolen Scarf, one of four narratives involving the {{transliteration|el|neraida}}. Also, this sequence is "the most frequent and stable introductory episode" in Greek variants of tale type 400.

In a tale from Greece, a human goatherd named Demetros, dances with ten fairies three nights, and in the third night, on a full moon, he dances with them and accidentally touches the handkerchief of Katena. Her companions abandon her to the mortal world and she becomes Demetros's wife, bearing him a daughter. For seven years, Demetros has hidden the handkerchief, until his wife Katena asks him for it. She takes the handkerchief and dances with it in a festival, taking the opportunity to return home and leave her mortal husband. Years later, their daughter follows her mother when she turns fifteen years old."III. The Fairy Wife". In: Gianakoulis, Theodore P. and MacPherson, Georgia H. Fairy Tales of Modern Greece. New York City: E. P. Dutton & Co. [1930]. pp. 34–47.

Another introductory episode of the Greek variants is one Angelopoulos dubbed The Sisters of Alexander the Great. This refers to a pseudo-historical or mythological account about Alexander the Great and a quest for a water of life that grants immortality. His sister (or sisters) drinks it instead of him, is thrown in the sea and becomes a {{transliteration|el|gorgona}}, a half-human, half-fish creature with power over the storm who can sink boats and become birds. They approach ships to ask if Alexander still lives, and can only be appeased if answered positively. In one tale, a youth on a ship captures a {{transliteration|el|gorgona}} three times (or three {{transliteration|el|gorgones}}) and beats her until she promises not to threaten any more ships. The youth then arrives on a deserted island and sees three birds that become human (or flying maidens), and steals their garments.{{cite journal |last1=Angelopoulos |first1=Anna |title=Greek Legends about Fairies and Related Tales of Magic |journal=Fabula |date=December 2010 |volume=51 |issue=3–4 |pages=217–224 |doi=10.1515/FABL.2010.021 |s2cid=161959532 }}{{cite journal |last1=Dawkins |first1=R. M. |title=Alexander and the Water of Life |journal=Medium Ævum |date=1937 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=173–192 |doi=10.2307/43626046 |jstor=43626046 }} Richard MacGillivray Dawkins suggested that the modern {{transliteration|el|gorgona}} was a merging of three mythological characters (the Sirens, the Gorgons, and the Scylla), and reported alternate tales where Alexander's sisters are replaced for his mother or a female lover.{{efn|In another article, Dawkins claims the oldest version of the tale involves Alexander's daughter; later versions replacing her for his sister.}}

Nereid, a moon of the planet Neptune, is named after the Nereids, as is Nereid Lake in Antarctica.[https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=139227 Nereid Lake.] SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica

{{notelist|}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
• {{Cite book |last1=Beekes |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qudQAAACAAJ |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |last2=van Beek |first2=Lucien |date=2010 |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-17418-4 |editor-last=Lubotsky |editor-first=Alexander |editor-link=Alexander Lubotsky |language=en |author-link=Robert S. P. Beekes |author-link2=:w:nl:Lucien van Beek}}
• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. {{ISBN|0-674-99135-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
• {{Cite book |last=Chantraine |first=Pierre |url=https://archive.org/details/Dictionnaire-Etymologique-Grec/ |title=Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque |date=1968 |publisher=Klincksieck |language=fr |author-link=Pierre Chantraine}}
• Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ValeriusFlaccus1.html Online version at theio.com.]
• Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0058 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. {{ISBN|978-0674995796|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. {{ISBN|978-0198145318|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0133 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Hyginus, Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/207 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
• Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
• The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html Online version at the theoi.com]
• Kerényi, Carl, The Gods of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1951.
• {{Cite book |last=Litchfield West |first=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-C5yAAAAIAAJ |title=Hesiod: Theogony (Edited with Prolegomena and Commentary) |date=1966 |publisher=Clarendon Press |language=en |author-link=Martin Litchfield West}}
• Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues of the Sea Gods translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/LucianDialoguesGods2.html Online version at theoi.com]
• Luciani Samosatensis, Opera. Vol I. Karl Jacobitz. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1896. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0525 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• {{Cite journal |last=Papachristophorou |first=Marilena |orig-date=1997 |title=To παραμύθι της Νεράϊδας (ΑΤ 400): αναπαραστάσεις των φύλων μέσα από την έλξη / άπωση του υπερφυσικού και του ανθρώπινου στοιχείου |url=https://www.academia.edu/4721218 |journal=Ethnologhia |language=el |publication-date=1998 |volume=5}}
• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0055 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• {{Cite book |last=Tsantsanoglou |first=Kyriakos |title=Lemmata: Beiträge zum Gedenken an Christos Theodoridis |date=2015 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-035434-8 |editor-last=Tziatzi |editor-first=Maria |language=en |chapter=Νηρεύς, A Controversial Water-god |pages=5–15 |doi=10.1515/9783110354348-005 |editor-last2=Billerbeck |editor-first2=Margarethe |editor-last3=Montanari |editor-first3=Franco |editor-last4=Tsantsanoglou |editor-first4=Kyriakos |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110354348-005/html}}
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0058 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Nereids}}

• [http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Nereides.html Nereids in classical literature and art]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20181126221628/https://www.panoramio.com/photo/4731425 Nereid and Triton Mosaic from Ephesus Terrace Home -2]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20181127022413/https://www.panoramio.com/photo/4691185 3D stereoview of Nereid and Triton relief from Temple of Apollo in Didim]
• [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000183 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Nereids and other Sea Deities)]

{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Greek religion}}

{{Swan Maiden}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Greek sea goddesses

Category:Water spirits