hamadryad

File:Panmosaic.jpg and a Hamadryad, found in Pompeii{{cn|date=February 2025}}]]

In Greek mythology, a Hamadryad or Hamadryas ({{IPAc-en|h|æ|m|ə|ˈ|d|r|aɪ|.|æ|d}}; {{langx|grc|ἁμαδρυάς, pl: ἁμαδρυάδες|Hamadryás, pl: Hamadryádes}}{{cite book |last1=Rhodios |first1=Apollonios |last2=Seaton |first2=Robert Cooper |title=Argonautika 2.477 |date=1900 |publisher=Clarendon Press |page=80 |url=https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%91%CF%81%CE%B3%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%85%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AC/%CE%92 |access-date=26 July 2023 |language=el}}) is a tree nymph.Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Hamadryads. They are born bonded to a certain tree on which their life depends.{{cite web |title=Ἁμαδρυάδες - Ancient Greek (LSJ) |url=https://lsj.gr/wiki/%E1%BC%89%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%B4%CF%81%CF%85%CE%AC%CE%B4%CE%B5%CF%82 |website=Liddell, Scott, Jones Ancient Greek Lexicon |access-date=26 July 2023}}{{cite book|author=John Bell|title=Bell's New Pantheon; Or, Historical Dictionary of the Gods, Demi-gods, Heroes, and Fabulous Personages of Antiquity: Also, of the Images and Idols Adored in the Pagan World; Together with Their Temples, Priests, Altars, Oracles, Fasts, Festivals, Games ...|url=https://archive.org/details/bellsnewpantheo00bellgoog|year=1790|publisher=J. Bell|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bellsnewpantheo00bellgoog/page/n376 366]–7}} Some maintain that a Hamadryad is the tree itself, with a normal dryad being simply the indwelling entity, or spirit, of the tree. If the tree should die, the Hamadryad associated with it would die as well. For this reason, both dryads and the other gods would punish mortals who harmed trees.

Etymology

The name of the Hamadryades was compounded from the ancient Greek words háma ({{lang|grc|ἅμα}}, Doric: {{lang|grc|ἁμᾶ}}, "together, concurrently"{{cite web |title=ἅμα |url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/%E1%BC%85%CE%BC%CE%B1 |website=Logeion |publisher=The University of Chicago |access-date=26 July 2023}}{{cite web |title=ἁμᾶ - Ancient Greek (LSJ) |url=https://lsj.gr/wiki/%E1%BC%81%CE%BC%E1%BE%B6 |website=Liddell, Scott, Jones Ancient Greek Lexicon |access-date=26 July 2023}}) and dryás ({{lang|grc|δρυάς}}, "tree, wood nymph"{{cite web |title=Δρυάς |url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/%CE%94%CF%81%CF%85%CE%AC%CF%82 |website=Logeion |publisher=The University of Chicago |access-date=26 July 2023}}). This informs the understanding that the life of a Hamadryas is concurrent with that of its tree: one cannot exist without the other.

List of Hamadryads

The Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus lists eight Hamadryads, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas:

Karya (walnut or hazelnut)
Balanos (oak)
Kraneia (dogwood)
Morea (mulberry)
Aigeiros (black poplar)
Ptelea (elm)
Ampelos (vines, especially Vitis)
Syke/Sykea (fig)

= Other Hamadryads =

Scientific names

The mother, Hamadryas, is immortalized in three scientific names, two of which are still valid: the generic name of the cracker butterfly, the specific name of the northernmost monkey in Asia Minor, the hamadryas baboon, and the original (but no longer valid) genus name of the king cobra (originally Hamadryas hannah, now Ophiophagus hannah). The cracker butterfly is more arboreal than most butterflies, as it commonly camouflages itself on trees. It feeds on sap, rotting fruit and dung. The hamadryas baboon is one of the least arboreal monkeys, but was the most common monkey in Hellenic lands. The king cobra is sometimes considered arboreal or semi-arboreal, and is also referred to by the common name "hamadryad", especially in older literature.

Notes

References

Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 5, Equ – Has, edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2004. {{ISBN|9004122680}}.