Greek Creatures - Nymphs

A creature that is classified as a creature yet looks completely normal is a Greek nymph. A nymph is a creature that looks like a beautiful young woman that is bound to a particular area of land. There are many different types of nymphs such as water nymphs, land nymphs, and wood nymphs. They are deciphered as lowly ranked gods that are not worshipped. They are merely creatures that have a connection with their surroundings and have little power over the surrounding nature around them. Although there are some nymphs that are merely the attendants and lovers of other gods. Legends and stories always show the nymphs spending their time playing and laying about.

The many different types of nymphs also serve the many different Greek gods. Dryades are certain types of wood nymphs that are the hunting companions of Artemis, the goddess of hunting. They live in various oak trees in the woods and were very connected to their home. So connected that if their oak tree would happen to die, they too will die. One show of loyalty to Artemis is the story of Arethusa. She was one of the wood nymphs that attended to Artemis. She was content with her life and had no other interest but to serve the goddess. Alpheus, the river god, fell in love with the young nymph, and pursued her constantly. Arethusa rejected his offers and ran to Artemis for help. In return, Artemis granted her favor and turned her into a water fountain to get away from the river god. Yet when Alpheus found out, he turned himself into the water running under the fountain just to be near the young nymph.

Nereids are the nymphs of the sea. There are 50 of them altogether. They are also called the daughters of the sea. Legends is said that Nereids went to a festival on an island of Naxos and performed a dance. One sea nymph in particular named Amphirite caught the eye of the mighty sea god Poseidon; he later claimed her as his bride. They are different from the Nymphs of the Ocean which are called Oceanides, which consist of 3000 nymphs. Their parents are the Titan Oceanus and Titaness Tethys.

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Sources - http://www.pantheon.org/articles/n/nymphs.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymph, http://www.paleothea.com/Nymphs.html, Yahoo images