NYMPHAI NAXIAI

THE NYMPHAI NAXIAI were Naiad-nymphs of the springs of Mount Drios on the Aegean island of Naxos. They were nurses of the infant god Dionysos.

The Naxian Nymphs were closely identified with other nurses of the god Dionysos, in particular the Hyades, but also the Nysiades, Dodonides and Lamides.

PARENTS

Perhaps daughters of a mainland RIVER-GOD

NAMES

PHILIA, KORONIS, KLEIDE (Diodorus Siculus 5.52.1)

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5. 52. 1 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
"The myth which the Naxians have to relate about Dionysos is like this : He was reared, they say, in their country [the island of Naxos], and for this reason the island has been most dear to him and is called by some Dionysias. For according to the myth which has been handed down to us, Zeus, on the occasion when Semele had been slain by his lightning before the time for bearing the child, took the babe and sewed it up in his thigh, and when the appointed time came for its birth, wishing to keep the matter concealed from Hera, he took the babe from his thigh in what is now Naxos and gave it to the Nymphai (Nymphs) of the island, Philia, Koronis (Coronis), and Kleide (Cleide), to be reared. The reason Zeus slew Semele with his lightning before she could give birth to her child was his desire that the babe should be born, not of a mortal woman but of two immortals, and thus hould be immortal from its very birth. And because of the kindness which the inhabitants of Naxos had shown to Dionysos in connection with this rearing they received marks of gratitude; for the island increased in prosperity."

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5. 50. 4 :
"Boutes (Butes) [of Thrake (Thrace)] and his companions, upon landing [on the island of Naxos], came upon the female devotees of Dionysos as they were celebrating the orgies of the god near Drios (Drius), as it is called, in Akhaia (Achaea) Phthiotis. As Boutes and his companions rushed at the women, these threw away the sacred objects, and some of them fled for safety to the sea, and others to the mountain called Drios; but Koronis (Coronis), the myth continues, was seized by Boutes and forced to lie with him. And she, in anger at the seizure and at the insolent treatment she had received, called upon Dionysos to lend her his aid. And the god struck Boutes with madness, because of which he lost his mind and, throwing himself into a well, met his death."

NAMES OF THE NAXIAN NYMPHS

SOURCES

GREEK

• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History - Greek History C1st B.C.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.