THESSALIDES
Greek Name
Νυμφαι Θεσσαλιδες
Transliteration
Nymphai Thessalides
Latin Spelling
Nymphae Thessalides
Translation
Nymphs of Thessaly
THE THESSALIDES were the Naiad-nymphs of the mighty river Peneios (Peneus) in Thessalia, northern Greece.
PARENTS
PENEIOS (Callimachus Hymn to Delos 104)
NAMES
DAPHNE, STILBE, MENIPPE, others
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 104 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"[The rivers and springs flee the approach of the pregnant goddess Leto for fear of incurring the wrath of Hera should they provide her refuge :] She [Leto] turned her feet back to Thessalia (Thessaly). And Anauros fled and great Larisa and the cliffs of Kheiron (Chiron); fled, too, Peneios (Peneus), coiling through Tempe.
But thy heart, Hera, was even then still pitiless and thou wert not broken down nor didst have compassion, when she [Leto] stretched forth both her arms and spake in vain : ‘Ye Nymphai Thessalides (Thessalian Nymphs), offspring of a river [Peneios], tell your sire to hush his great stream. Entwine your hands about his beard and entreat him that the children of Zeus be born in his waters.’"
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1. 574 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"There is a vale in Haemonia [Thessaly], enclosed with hanging forests, steep on every side; men name it Tempe . . . Here is the home, the mansion, the retreat of that majestic River (Amnis) [Peneus]; seated here within a rock-hewn cavern he dispensed justice to all his waters and their Nymphae (Nymphs)."
SOURCES
GREEK
- Callimachus, Hymns - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
ROMAN
- Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.