Oread

Les Oréades (1902) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, in Musée d'Orsay

For the Hilda Doolittle poem, see Oread (poem). For the lake in Greece, see Lake Orestiada. For the city in Greece, see Orestiada. For the Dungeons and Dragons creature, see Fey (Dungeons & Dragons)#Oread.

In Greek mythology, an Oread /ˈɔːriˌæd/ or /ˈɔːri.əd/ (Ancient Greek: Ὀρεάδες, Oreades, from ὄρος, "mountain") or Orestiad /ɔːˈrɛstiˌæd/ or /ɔːˈrɛsti.əd/ (Όρεστιάδες, Orestiades) was a type of nymph that lived in mountains, valleys, and ravines. They differ from each other according to their dwelling: the Idaeae were from Mount Ida, Peliades from Mount Pelion, etc. They were associated with Artemis, since the goddess, when she went out hunting, preferred mountains and rocky precipices.

Oreads

The number of Oreads includes but is not limited to:

• Britomartis
• Claea (Mount Calathion, Messenia)^[1]
• Cyllene or Kyllene (Mount Cyllene)^[2]
• Daphnis (Mount Parnassos)^[3]
• Echo (Mount Cithaeron)^[4]
• The Idaeae (Mount Ida, Crete):^[5][6]
  • Adrasteia
  • Cynosura
  • Helike
  • Ida
• Nomia (Mount Nomia, Arcadia)^[7]
• Othreis (Mount Othrys, Malis)^[8]
• Sinoe (Mount Sinoe, Arcadia)^[9]
• The Sphragitides ^[10] or Cithaeronides (Mount Cithaeron)^[11]

References

1. Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.26.11
2. Bibliotheca 3.8.1
3. Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.5.5
4. Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 970
5. Bibliotheca 1.4.5
6. Hyginus, Astronomica, 2.2
7. Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.38.0
8. Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 13
9. Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.30.2
10. Plutarch, Life of Aristides 11. 3
11. Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.3.9