Nymphs in Mythology continued
According to Greek mythology there were many nymphs in a large class of entities which were in human form, or at least part human form. The different nymphs were in certain locations or were aids of some of the gods. Some of the gods who had nymphs for aids were, Artemis, Dionysus, Hermes, Pan, Apollo, Dionysus, and others. The nymphs were often a target of satyrs.
Nymphs lived in mountains, groves, seas, springs, rivers, valleys, and cool grottoes. These nymphs were rulers of these locations. There were many nymphs and the first ones were born of Gaea and Uranus when the blood of Uranus dropped onto Earth (Gaia or Gaea) after Cronus castrated him, at the request of Gaea. The Ash Tree nymphs were some of the first nymphs. The different groups of nymphs were the land nymphs, wood nymphs, water nymphs, and other nymphs.
The Land Nymphs were, the Alseids (nymphs of the glens, and groves), Auloniads (nymphs of the pastures), Hesperides (nymphs of the west and were daughters of Atlas). His daughters were Aegle, Arethusa, Erytheia, Hespera, Hesperia, and Saraesa. Other Land Nymphs were Leimakids (nymphs of the meadows), Minthe, Napaeae (nymphs of the mountain valleys and glens), Oreads (nymphs of the mountains and grottoes).
The Wood nymphs were the Dryads (nymphs of the trees). The Dryads were Hamadryads (nymphs of the oak tree and others), Epimeliad (nymphs of the apple trees), Leuce (nymphs of the white popular trees), and Meliae (nymphs of the manna-ash tree).
The Water nymphs were Ephydriads. They were Helead (fen nymphs), Naiads (usually fresh water nymphs), The Naiads were Crinaeae (fountain nymphs), Eleionomae (marsh nymphs), Hyades (rain nymphs), Limnades or Limnatides (nymphs of the lakes), Pegaeae (nymphs of the springs), and Potemeides (nymphs of the rivers). There were Nereids which were the daughters of Nereus and they were in the Mediterranean Sea. There were Oceanids, who were daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, and they were nymphs in any water, but usually in salt water.
The Other nymphs were Corcycian, (nymphs of the Corycian Cave)Lampedes (nymphs of the Underworld), The Muses, and Nephelae (nymphs of the clouds).
The ancient Greek believed that the nymphs existed even into the 20th century. At that time they were known as Nereids. The nymphs were usually dressed in white, and wearing garlands of flowers. They were usually described as having the legs of goats, donkey, or cows. The water nymphs were often described as having the head and feet of a human but the body of a fish. Some versions say they had the top half of a human and the lower body (tail ) and fins of a fish.
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