Editing Oceanids (section)

==Description and function==
The Oceanids' father Oceanus was the great primordial world-encircling river, their mother [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]] was a sea goddess, and their brothers the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river gods]] (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.<ref>Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 p. 13]; Most, p. 31 n. 21; Grimal, s.v. Oceanus, p. 315; West, p. 259.</ref> [[Hesiod]] says they are "dispersed far and wide" and everywhere "serve the earth and the deep waters",<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 365–366].</ref> 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".<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/390/mode/2up 9.1410–4118].</ref>

The Oceanids are not easily categorized, nor confined to any single function,<ref>Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401.</ref> not even necessarily associated with water.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40]; West, p. 260.</ref> Though most nymphs were considered to be minor deities, many Oceanids were significant figures. [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], the personification of intelligence, was [[Zeus]]' first wife, whom Zeus impregnated with [[Athena]] and then swallowed.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+886 886–900]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.6 1.3.6].</ref> The Oceanid [[Doris (Oceanid)|Doris]], like her mother Tethys, was an important sea-goddess.<ref>Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401.</ref> While their brothers, the river gods, were the usual personifications of major rivers, [[Styx]] (according to Hesiod the eldest and most important Oceanid) was also the personification of a major river, the [[Greek underworld|underworld]]'s river Styx.<ref>Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 361].</ref> And some, like Europa, and [[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]], seem associated with areas of land rather than water.<ref>Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 pp. 13–14]; Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401.</ref>

The Oceanids were also responsible for keeping watch over the young.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40]; Larson, p. 30; Gantz, p. 28; Tripp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 401.</ref> According to Hesiod, who described them as "neat-ankled daughters of Ocean ... children who are glorious among goddesses", they 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".<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 346–366].</ref>

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.<ref>Grimal, s.v. Oceanus, p. 315. Larson, p. 7 says that the Oceanids "serve mainly as genealogical starting points".</ref> Doris was the wife of the sea-god [[Nereus]], and the mother of the fifty sea nymphs, the [[Nereids]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+240 240–264]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.7 1.2.7].</ref> Styx was the wife of the Titan [[Pallas (Titan)|Pallas]], and the mother of [[Zelus]], [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], [[Kratos (mythology)|Kratos]], and [[Bia (mythology)|Bia]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+383 383–385]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.4 1.2.4].</ref> [[Eurynome (Oceanid)|Eurynome]], Zeus' third wife, was the mother of the [[Charites]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+907 907–909]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.1 1.3.1]. Other sources give the Charites other parents, see Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dcharis-bio-1 s.v. Charis].</ref> [[Clymene (wife of Iapetus)|Clymene]] was the wife of the Titan [[Iapetus]], and mother of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], [[Menoetius (Greek mythology)|Menoetius]], [[Prometheus]], and [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+351 351], however according to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.3 1.2.3], another Oceanid, [[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]] was their mother by Iapetus.</ref> [[Electra (Oceanid)|Electra]] was the wife of the sea god [[Thaumas]] and the mother of [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]] and the [[Harpies]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+240 266–269]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.6 1.2.6].</ref> Other notable Oceanids include: [[Perse (mythology)|Perseis]], wife of the Titan sun god [[Helios]] and mother of [[Circe]], and [[Aeëtes|Aeetes]] the king of [[Colchis]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+956 956–957]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.9.1 1.9.1].</ref> [[Idyia]], wife of Aeetes and mother of [[Medea]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+958 958–962]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.9.23 1.9.23].</ref> and [[Callirhoe (Oceanid)|Callirhoe]], the wife of [[Chrysaor]] and mother of [[Geryon]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+286 286–288]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.10 2.5.10].</ref>

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.<ref>Kemp, s.v. Oceanids, p. 611.</ref> They were also recorded as the companions of Persephone when she was abducted by Hades.<ref>Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 p. 13]; Larson, p. 7; [[Homeric Hymns|''Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2)'']], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg002.perseus-eng1:1-39 2.5], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg002.perseus-eng1:398-448 2.418–423].</ref>

The goddess [[Artemis]] requested that sixty Oceanids of nine years be made her personal choir, to serve her as her personal handmaids and remain virgins.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn III to Artemis'' [https://archive.org/details/callimachuslycop00calluoft/page/60/mode/2up?view=theater 1-27].</ref>