| Greek deities series |
|---|
| Nymphs |
In Greek mythology, an Oread (/ˈɔːriˌæd, ˈɔːriəd/; Ancient Greek: Ὀρειάς, romanized: Oreiás, stem Ὀρειάδ-, Oreiád-, Latin: Oreas/Oread-, from ὄρος, 'mountain'; French: Oréade) or Orestiad (/ɔːˈrɛstiˌæd, -iəd/; Ὀρεστιάδες, Orestiádes) is a mountain nymph. Oreads differ from each other according to their dwelling: the Idaeae were from Mount Ida, Peliades from Mount Pelion, etc. Myths associated the Oreads with Artemis, since the goddess, when she went out hunting, preferred mountains and rocky precipices.
The generic term "oread" itself appears to be Hellenistic (first attested in the Epitaph of Adonis (Greek: Ἐπιτάφιος Ἀδώνιδος) of Bion of Smyrna, fl. c. 100 BCE) .[1]
The number of Oreads includes but is not limited to:
| Name | Location | Relations and Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Britomartis | Mount Dicte, Crete | daughter of Carme and Zeus[2] |
| Chelone | Mount Khelydorea, Arcadia | changed by Hermes into a tortoise[3] |
| Claea | Mount Calathion, Messenia | [4] |
| Cyllene | Mount Cyllene, Arcadia | [5] |
| Daphnis | Mount Parnassos | [6] |
| Echo | Mount Cithaeron, Boeotia | loved Narcissus[7] and loved by Pan[8] |
| Eidothea | Mount Othrys, Malis | mother of Cerambus by Eusiros[9] |
| The Idaeae | Mount Ida, Crete | [10] |
| • Adrasteia | ||
| • Cynosura | ||
| • Helike | ||
| • Ida | ||
| Nomia | Mount Nomia, Arcadia | a friend of Callisto[11] |
| Oenone | Mount Ida, Troad | daughter of the river-god Cebren and first wife of Paris[12] |
| Othreis | Mount Othrys, Malis | mother of Meliteus by Zeus and Phager by Apollo[13] |
| Phigalia | Phigalia, Arcadia | eponym of the town of Phigalia |
| Pitys | loved by Pan[14] | |
| Sinoe | Mount Sinoe, Arcadia | nurse of Pan[15] |
| Sose | loved by Hermes | |
| The Sphragitides or Cithaeronides | Mount Cithaeron, Boeotia | [16] |