Naiads

In Greek mythology, the **Naiads** were a type of nymph that inhabited and presided over rivers, streams, brooks, wells, fountains, lakes and other freshwater bodies. They are one of the three main classes of water nymphs, the others being the Nereids, the nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Oceanids, who were the nymphs of the oceans. They had extremely long lifetimes but were not immortal. They were also believed to have sat in on some of the gods' discussions on Olympus.

The Naiads by Gioacchino Pagliei (img from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Gioacchino_Pagliei_-_The_Naiads,_1881.JPG) Naiads in ancient art were depicted as young women, either sitting or standing near their springs, and holding a hydria (jug of water) or a branch of foliage.

Ancient art of a naiad and a river god (img from http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/O18.1.html)

Subclasses
The Naiads are divided into 5 subclasses, according to their domain.

1. Pegaeae (springs) 2. Crinaeae / Krinaiai (fountains) 3. Eleionomae (marshes) 4. Potameides (rivers) 5. Limnades / Limnatides (lakes)

Roman sources also include an extra subclass, the Avernales or the Nymphae Infernae Paludis. They presided over the rivers of Hades.

Parentage
The parentage of the Naiads varies, depending on where you are or what source you read. They were either the daughters of Zeus, Poseidon, various Oceanids or part of the family of the Titan Oceanus.

Mythology
Naiads were intimately connected to the body of water they presided over, and if it dried up, the naiad would also die. The waters which the Greeks believed to be presided over by naiads were thought to have medicinal, inspirational or prophetic powers. Naiads were also worshipped by ancient cults and animals were ritually drowned in their bodies of water.

They, along with the goddess Artemis, were regarded as the divine nurses of the young and protectors of girls, overseeing their passage into adulthood.

Many naiads married local kings, and so played a part in the family trees of the different royal families of myth.

Naiads also could be dangerous and jealous creatures. Hylas, a companion of Hercules, was lost when naiads of a spring in Bithynia, on the island of Mysia, took a liking to him and lured him into their waters. It is uncertain if he either drowned or lived with them. Another naiad, Nomia, fell in love with a shepherd named Daphnis. He was repeatedly unfaithful to her and she in turn blinded him for revenge.

Naiads seducing Hylas by John W. Waterhouse (img from http://www.paleothea.com/Pictures/WaterhouseHylas.jpg)

Powers
Naiads had the gift of knowing the future and could foretell the destinies of others.

Trivia
Some Greek towns and cities were named after naiads. Lilaea, in Phocis, was named after Lilaea, the Naiad of the Cephissus River.

There is a fountain in Rome named the Fountain of the Naiads. The Fountain of the Naiads (img from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/archive/a/a9/20070930134709!Fountain_of_the_Naiads_Rome.jpg) There is a reference in Homer's Odyssey to a cave that is sacred to the naiads.

Every year the priests on the island of Mysia (where Hylas drowned) march to a neighboring mountain and call Hylas's name out three times.

A Naiad by John W. Waterhouse (img from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Naiad1.jpg)