Nysiads

Greek deities series
Primordial deities Titans and Olympians Chthonic deities Personified concepts
Water deities
Amphitrite Ceto Glaucus Nereus Oceanus Phorcys Pontus Poseidon Potamoi Proteus Tethys Thetis Triton
Nymphs
Alseid Anthousai Auloniad Aurae Crinaeae Daphnaie Dryads Eleionomae Epimeliads Hamadryads Hesperides Hyades Lampads Leimakids Limnades Meliae Melinoë Naiads Napaeae Nephele Nereids Oceanids Oreads Pegaeae Pegasides Pleiades Potamides
v t e

In Greek mythology, the Nysiads or Nysiades (Ancient Greek: Νυσιάδες) were Oceanid nymphs of mythical Mount Nysa. Zeus entrusted the infant god Dionysus^[1] to their care, and the Nysiads raised him with the assistance of the old satyr-god Silenus. When Dionysus was grown, the Nysiads joined his company as the first of the Maenads.

Names

The names of the nymphs include:^[2]

Ambrosia
Arsinoe
Bromia or Bromis
Cisseis
Coronis
Erato
Eriphia
Nysa^[3]^[4]
Pedile
Polymno or Polyhymno

Also mentioned are Callichore and Calyce^[5] (after whom two moons of Jupiter, Kallichore and Kalyke, are named).

In later tellings of Dionysus's infancy, the Nysiades appear to be identified with the Hyades.^[6] The term might have been used for the Pleiades and the Hyades as Dionysus's tutors altogether.

Notes

^ Homeric Hymn 26 to Dionysus 2 ff.
^ Hyginus, Fabulae 182
^ Also occurs in Terpander, fr. 9
^ In Diodorus Siculus, 3.69, she is called daughter of Aristaeus
^ Nonnus, Dionysiaca 14.219 ff.
^ In Bibliotheca 3.4.3, the identification is explicit: "...the Nymphai of Asian Nysa, whom Zeus in later times placed among the stars and named the Hyades."

References

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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863-1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca. 3 Vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940-1942. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.