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1905 . Description Not Available
Private Collection
John William Waterhouse: A Naiad - 1905
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The Naiades (Naiads) (Nayads) were nymphs of bodies of fresh water and were one of the three main classes of water nymphs - the others being the Nereides (nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea) and he Oceanides (nymphs of the oceans). The Naiades presided over rivers, streams, brooks, springs, fountains, lakes, ponds, wells, and marshes. They were divided into various subclasses: Crinaeae (fountains), Pegaeae (springs), Eleionomae (marshes), Potameides (rivers), and Limnades or Limnatides (lakes). Roman sources even assigned custody of the rivers of Hades to Naiades classified as Nymphae Infernae Paludis or the Avernales.
The Naiad was intimately connected to her body of water and her very existence seems to have depended on it. If a stream dried up, its Naiad expired. The waters over which Naiades presided were thought to be endowed with inspirational, medicinal, or prophetic powers. Thus the Naiades were frequently worshipped by the ancient Greeks in association with divinities of healing, fertility and growth.
The genealogy of the Naiades varies according to geographic region and literary source. Naiades were either daughters of Zeus, daughters of various river gods, or simply part of the vast family of the Titan Oceanus.
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