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Oceanids
[edit]In Greek mythology, the Oceanids or Oceanides (/oʊˈsiːənɪdz, ˈoʊʃənɪdz/; Ancient Greek: Ὠκεανίδες, romanized: Ōkeanídes, pl. of Ὠκεανίς, Ōkeanís) are the nymphs, or naiads, who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys [1], Titan daughter of Gaia and Uranus. Some of the Oceanids were relevant and individually named in Greek Mythology, however many of them were considered minor deities who where in general in charge of keeping watch over the young.
Article body
[edit]Family and Association
[edit]The Oceanids' father Oceanus was the great primordial world-encircling river, their mother Tethys was a sea goddess, and their brothers the Potamoi (also three thousand in number) were the personifications of the great rivers of the world. Like the rest of their family, the Oceanid nymphs were associated with water, as the personification of springs [2]. Hesiod says they are "dispersed far and wide" and everywhere "serve the earth and the deep waters"[3], while in Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, the Argonauts, stranded in the desert of Libya, beg the "nymphs, sacred of the race of Oceanus" to show them "some spring of water from the rock or some sacred flow gushing from the earth"[4].
Though most nymphs were considered to be minor deities, many Oceanids were significant figures. Metis, the personification of intelligence, was Zeus' first wife, whom Zeus impregnated with Athena and then swallowed[5]. The Oceanid Doris, like her mother Tethys, was an important sea-goddess who is associated with fertility of the ocean[6]. While the Potamoi were the usual personifications of major rivers, Styx (according to Hesiod the eldest and most important Oceanid) was the personification of a major river in the underworld's, The River Styx [7]. And some, like Europa, and Asia, seem associated with areas of land rather than water[8].
According to Hesiod, who described them as "neat-ankled daughters of Ocean ... children who are glorious among goddesses", the Oceanids were, in part, in charge of watching over the young[9], and are "a holy company of daughters who with the lord Apollo and the Rivers have youths in their keeping—to this charge Zeus appointed them"[10].
Like Metis, the Oceanids also functioned as the wives (or lovers) of many gods, and the mothers, by these gods, of many other gods and goddesses. Doris was the wife of the sea-god Nereus, and the mother of the fifty sea nymphs, the Nereids. Styx was the wife of the Titan Pallas, and the mother of Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia. Eurynome, Zeus' third wife, was the mother of the Charites. Clymene was the wife of the Titan Iapetus, and mother of Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus. Electra was the wife of the sea god Thaumas and the mother of Iris and the Harpies. Other notable Oceanids include: Perseis, wife of the Titan sun god Helios and mother of Circe, and Aeetes the king of Colchis; Idyia, wife of Aeetes and mother of Medea; and Callirhoe, the wife of Chrysaor and mother of Geryon.
Sailors routinely honored and entreated the Oceanids, dedicating prayers, libations, and sacrifices to them. Appeals to them were made to protect seafarers from storms and other nautical hazards. Before they began their legendary voyage to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece, the Argonauts made an offering of flour, honey, and sea to the ocean deities, sacrificed bulls to them, and entreated their protection from the dangers of their journey. They were also recorded as the companions of Persephone when she was abducted by Hades.
Names
[edit]Main article: List of Oceanids
Hesiod gives the names of 41 Oceanids, with other ancient sources providing many more. As stated previously, some of the Oceanids were important figures, but most were considered minor dieties. Some were, perhaps, the names of actual springs, others merely poetic inventions. Some names, consistent with the Oceanids' charge of having "youths in their keeping", represent things which parents might hope to be bestowed upon their children: Plouto ("Wealth"), Tyche ("Good Fortune"), Idyia ("Knowing"), and Metis ("Wisdom"). Others appear to be geographical eponyms, such as Europa, Asia, Ephyra (Corinth), and Rhodos (Rhodes).
Several of the names of Oceanids were also among the names given to the Nereids.
References
[edit]See Also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Hard, Robin; Rose, H. J. (2004). The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology". Psychology Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0-415-18636-0.
- ^ Fowler, Robert L. (2000). Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary. OUP Oxford. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-19-814741-1.
- ^ Hesoid, Theogony 365-366
- ^ Apollonius, Rhodius; Seaton, R. C. (Robert Cooper) (1912). The Argonautica. Kelly - University of Toronto. London : Heinemann ; New York : G.P. Putnam. pp. 9.1410-4118.
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 886-900; Apollodorus, 1.3.6
- ^ Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401.
- ^ Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401; Hesiod, Theogony 361
- ^ Fowler, pp. 13–14; Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401.
- ^ Hard, p. 40; Larson, p. 30; Gantz, p. 28; Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401.
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 346–366.