Editing Dryad

{{short description|Tree nymph in Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Dryad11.jpg|thumb|''The Dryad'' by [[Evelyn De Morgan]]]]
A '''dryad''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|r|aɪ|.|æ|d}}; {{langx|el|Δρυάδες}}, <small>[[grammatical number|sing.]]</small> {{lang|el|Δρυάς}}) is an oak [[Tree (mythology)|tree]] [[nymph]] or oak tree spirit in [[Greek mythology]]; ''Drys'' (δρῦς) means "tree", and more specifically "[[oak]]" in Greek.<ref>{{cite dictionary
| title = δρῦς, ‘’n’’. | dictionary = A Greek-English Lexicon | editor1-last = Liddell | editor1-first = Henry |editor2-last=Scott |editor2-first=Robert |publisher=Clarendon Press | date = 1940 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Ddru%3Ds}}</ref> Today the term is often used to refer to tree nymphs in general.<ref>Łaszkiewicz (2017) p. 131.</ref>

== Types ==
{{Greek myth (nymph)}}

===Daphnaie===
{{main|Daphnaie}}
These were nymphs of the laurel trees.

===Epimelides===
{{main|Epimeliad}}
The Maliades, Meliades or Epimelides were nymphs of apple and other fruit trees and the protectors of sheep. The Greek word ''melas'', from which their name derives, means both apple and sheep. The [[Hesperides]], the guardians of the golden apples, were regarded as this type of dryad.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

===Hamadryad===
{{main|Hamadryad}}
Dryads, like all [[nymph]]s, were supernaturally long-lived and, like many, were tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the [[hamadryad]]s, who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it also died. For these reasons, dryads and the [[Greek god]]s punished any mortal who harmed trees without first [[wiktionary:propitiate|propitiating]] the tree-nymphs. (associated with Oak trees)

===Meliae===
{{main|Meliae}}
The dryads of the [[ash tree]] were called the [[Meliae]].<ref>Larson (2001) p.11.</ref> The Meliae sisters tended the infant [[Zeus]] in [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]'s [[Crete|Cretan]] cave. In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', [[Gaia]] gave birth to the Meliae after being made fertile by the blood of the castrated [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]].<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' 183–87.</ref>

==Names==
Some of the individual dryads or hamadryads are:

*[[Atlanteia]] and [[Phoebe (mythology)|Phoebe]], two of the many wives or concubines of [[Danaus]]<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 2.1.5</ref>
*[[Chrysopeleia]]<ref>[[Tzetzes]] on [[Lycophron]], 480</ref>
*[[Dryope (daughter of Dryops)|Dryope]]<ref>[[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses'' 9.330 ff; [[Antoninus Liberalis]], [https://topostext.org/work/216#32 32]</ref>
*[[Erato (dryad)|Erato]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 8.4.2</ref>
*[[Eurydice]]
*[[Phigalia (mythology)|Phigalia]]<ref>Pausanias, 8.39.2</ref>
*[[Tithorea (mythology)|Tithorea]]<ref>Pausanias, 10.32.9</ref>

== In popular culture ==
[[File:Augustins - La dernière dryade - Gabriel Guay (2004 1 169).jpg|thumb|''La dernière dryade (The Last Dryad)'' by [[Gabriel Guay]], 1898.]]
* [[John Keats|Keats]] addresses the nightingale as "light-winged Dryad of the trees", in his "[[Ode to a Nightingale]]" . 
* In the [[poetry]] of [[Donald Davidson (poet)|Donald Davidson]] they illustrate the [[Theme (literature)|theme]]s of [[tradition]] and the importance of the past to the present.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=20077624|title=Dryads and Flappers|author=Martha E. Cook|volume=12|year=1979|pages=18–26|journal=The Southern Literary Journal|issue=1|publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}</ref>
*In [[The Chronicles of Narnia]] by [[C. S. Lewis]], dryads appear as inhabitants of [[Narnia (world)|Narnia]], as do many creatures from Greek mythology.<ref>Niedbala (2006) p.87</ref> In [[Prince Caspian]] the activity of the [[Telmarines]] in felling trees and defiling streams forces the dryads and naiads – denizens of 'Old Narnia' – into a deep sleep, from which they awaken when [[Bacchus]] and [[Silenus]] are summoned by [[Aslan]] to aid in the fight against King [[Miraz]]'s army.<ref>Sellars (2008) pp.37–38.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ghillie Dhu]], a similar Scottish spirit
*[[Kodama (spirit)|Kodama]], a similar Japanese spirit
*[[Nat (spirit)|Green spirit]], a similar spirit found in Myanmar and other Buddhist countries
*[[Elf]], a similar mythical creature associated with nature
*[[Plant soul]], the soul of a plant in religious traditions
*[[Querquetulanae]], Roman nymphs of the oak
*[[Rådande]], a similar Swedish spirit
*[[Salabhanjika]], a similar Indian spirit
*[[Mavka]], a similar Ukrainian spirit

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{reflist|30em}}
'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
* [[Walter Burkert|Burkert, Walter]], 1985. ''Greek Religion'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).
* {{cite book| editor-last=Evelyn-White |editor-first=Hugh |title= Hesiod. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1914}}
* {{cite book |last1=Larson |first1=Jennifer Lynn |title=Greek nymphs: myth, cult, lore |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford university press |isbn=0-19-514465-1}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Łaszkiewicz |first1=Weronika |title=Into the Wild Woods: On the Significance of Trees and Forests in Fantasy Fiction |journal=Mythlore |date=2017 |volume=36 |issue=1 (131) |pages=39–58 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26809256 |issn=0146-9339}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Niedbala |first1=Amanda M. |title=From Hades to Heaven: Greek Mythological Influences in C. S. Lewis's "The Silver Chair" |journal=Mythlore |date=2006 |volume=24 |issue=3/4 (93/94) |pages=71–93 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26814545 |issn=0146-9339}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Sellars |first1=Jeff |title=Toward a Narnian Valuation of Nature: Participatory Ontology |journal=Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal |date=2008 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=29–46 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48579533 |issn=1940-5537}} 
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Dryads}}
* [http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheDryad_e.html Hans Christian Andersen, "The Dryad", 1868] (e-text)
* Andersen, H. C.; Craigie (transl.) "[[s:Fairy Tales and Other Stories (Andersen, Craigie)/The Dryad|The Dryad]]" ''Fairy tales and other stories'' London; Toronto: Oxford University Press. 1914
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061124001516/http://www.mytholog.com/fiction/hoke_dryad.html Tim Hoke, "The Dryad", 2002] (e-text; strong language)


{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dryads| ]]
[[Category:Nymphs]]
[[Category:Tree_deities]]