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In Greek mythology, the nymph daughters of the Titan Oceanus (Ocean), were known collectively as the Oceanids. Four ancient sources give lists of names of Oceanids. The oldest, and longest such list, given by the late 8th–early 7th century BC Greek poet Hesiod, names 41 Oceanids.<ref>Hesiod, Theogony 349–361: Peitho, Admete, Ianthe, Electra, Doris, Prymno, Urania, Hippo, Clymene, Rhodea, Callirhoe, Zeuxo, Clytie, Idyia, Pasithoe, Plexaura, Galaxaura, Dione, Melobosis, Thoe, Polydora, Cerceis, Pluto, Perseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe, Petraea, Menestho, Europa, Metis, Eurynome, Telesto, Chryseis, Asia, Calypso, Eudora, Tyche, Amphirho, Ocyrrhoe, and Styx.</ref> Hesiod goes on to say that these "are the eldest ... but there are many besides" and that there were "three thousand" Oceanids,<ref>Hesiod, Theogony 362–364.</ref> a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable".<ref>Hard, p. 40.</ref> While some of these names, such as Peitho, Metis and Tyche, certainly reflected existing traditions, many were probably mere poetic inventions.<ref>West 1966, p. 260; Hard, p. 41.</ref> The probably nearly as old Homeric Hymn to Demeter lists twenty-one names, sixteen of which match those given by Hesiod,<ref>Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 418–423. The matching names are: Acaste, Admete, Callirhoe, Calypso, Chryseis, Electra, Galaxaura, Ianeira, Ianthe, Melobosis, Ocyrhoe, Pluto, Rhodea, Styx, Tyche, and Urania. The additions are: Iache, Leucippe, Melite, Phaeno, and Rhodope.</ref> and were probably taken directly from there.<ref>West 1966, p. 260; Evelyn-White, note to Homeric Hymn to Demeter 418.</ref>

The roughly contemporary (? Template:Circa) Greek mythographer Apollodorus and the Latin mythographer Hyginus also give lists of Oceanids. Apollodorus gives a list containing seven names,<ref>Asia, Styx, Electra, Doris, Eurynome, Amphitrite, and Metis (1.2.2).</ref> as well as mentioning five other Oceanids elsewhere.<ref>Callirrhoe (2.5.10), Idyia (1.9.23), Melia (2.1.1), Meliboea (3.8.1), and Pleione (3.10.1).</ref> Of these twelve names, eight match Hesiod.<ref>The matching names are: Asia, Callirhoe, Doris, Electra, Eurynome, Idyia, Metis, and Styx. The additions are: Amphitrite, Melia, Meliboea, and Pleione.</ref> Hyginus, at the beginning of his Fabulae, lists sixteen names, while elsewhere he gives the names of ten others.<ref>Hyginus lists seventeen names, but one is unintelligible: Hestyaea, Melite, Ianthe, Admete, Stilbo, Pasiphae, Polyxo, Eurynome, Euagoreis, Rhodope, Lyris, Clytia, <unintelligible>, Clitemneste, Mentis, Menippe, Argia (Fabulae Th. 6; Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95.). The other ten names are: Philyra (Fab. 138; Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 146), Merope (Fab. 154; Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 150), Persis (Fab. 156; Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 150), Ida, Amalthea, and Adrasteia (Fab. 182; Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 158), Pleione (Fab. 192; Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 162), Ephyra (Fab. 275.6; Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 181), Aethra (Astronomica 2.21).</ref> Of these 26 names, only nine are found in Hesiod, the Homeric Hymn, or Apollodorus. Many other names are given in other ancient sources.

The names of the Oceanids are of different types.<ref>For a detailed treatment of many of the Hesiodic names see West 1966, pp. 264 ff.</ref> The Oceanids were the nymphs of springs,<ref>West 1966, p. 259 ll. 337-70; Caldwell, p. 48; Most, p. 31.</ref> and some of the names apparently reflect this aquatic connection, with some perhaps being the names of actual springs.<ref>West 1966, p. 260; Evelyn-White, note to Hes. Th. 346.</ref> Other names have no apparent connection with water. Some, consistent with the Oceanids' function, as specified by Hesiod, of having "youths in their keeping" (i.e. being kourotrophoi),<ref>West 1966, p. 263 346. κουρίξουσι; Hesiod, Theogony 347.</ref> represent things which parents might hope to be bestowed upon their children: Plouto ("Wealth"), Tyche ("Good Fortune"), Idyia ("Knowing"), and Metis ("Wisdom").<ref>Fowler 2013, p. 13.</ref> Others appear to be geographical eponyms, such as Europa, Asia, Ephyra (Corinth), and Rhodos (Rhodes).<ref>Fowler 2013, pp. 13–16.</ref>

Several of the names given for Oceanids, are also names given for Nereids, the fifty sea nymphs who were the daughters of the sea god Nereus and the Oceanid Doris.

ListEdit

Named Oceanids
Name Sources Notes
Hes.<ref>Hesiod, Theogony 349–361.</ref> Hom. Hymn<ref>Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 418–423.</ref> Ap.<ref>Apollodorus, 1.2.2, except where otherwise indicated.</ref> Hyg.<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae Th. 6 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95), except where otherwise indicated.</ref> Other
Acaste Only mentioned by name in a single myth
Admete
Adrasteia ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 182</ref> Apollodorus, 1.1.6 makes the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, the nurses of Zeus, daughters of Melisseus, leader of the Kuretes of Crete
Aethra ✓<ref>Hyginus, Astronomica 2.21</ref> <ref>Pherecydes, fr. 90c Fowler; Ovid, Fasti 5.171</ref>
Aetna <ref>Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Παλιχη</ref>
Amalthea ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 182; Hyginus' Latin text has Althaea, which scholars read as Amalthea, see Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 191 endnote to 182; West 1983, p. 133.</ref> <ref>Scholia ad Homer, IIiad 21.194</ref> Nurse of Zeus, but not always an Oceanid<ref>According to Apollodorus, 2.7.5, she was the daughter of Haemonius, according to others she was a goat, see Frazer's note 3.</ref>
Amphirho
Amphitrite ✓+<ref>Also Apollodorus, 1.4.5</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref>Hesiod, Theogony, 243, 254, and Apollodorus, 1.2.7</ref>
Argia ✓+<ref>Also Hyginus, Fabulae 143</ref> Mother of Phoroneus, by Inachus, according to Hyginus<ref name="Fabulae 143">Hyginus, Fabulae 143</ref> however according to Apollodorus, the mother of Phoroneus was an Oceanid named Melia.<ref name="2.1.1">Apollodorus, 2.1.1</ref>
Asia <ref>According to Andron of Halicarnassus fr. 7 Fowler = FGrHist 10 F 7, Asia was the daughter of Oceanus and Pompholyge, see Fowler 2013, p. 13; Bouzek and Graninger, p. 12. Fowler 2013, p. 15, calls the name Pompholyge, an ad hoc invention.</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8">Hyginus, Fabulae Th. 8</ref>
Asterodia <ref>Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.242 (Parisian, Florentine).</ref>
Asterope <ref>Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Akragantes</ref>
Beroe <ref>Virgil, Georgics 4.341 calls Clio and Beroe "sisters, ocean-children both", possibly meaning they were Oceanids; cf. Nonnus, Dionysiaca 41.153</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8"/>
Callirhoe ✓<ref>Apollodorus, 2.5.10</ref>
Calypso The name of a Nereid;<ref name="1.2.7">Apollodorus, 1.2.7</ref> "probably not" the same as the Calypso who was the lover of Odysseus<ref>Caldwell, p. 49 n. 359, see also West 1966, p. 267 359. καὶ ἱμερόεσσα Καλυψώ; Hard, p. 41. Odysseus' Calypso is usually the daughter of the Titan Atlas, e.g. Homer, Odyssey 1.51–54.</ref>
Camarina <ref>Pindar, Olympian Odes 5.1–4</ref>
Capheira <ref>Diodorus Siculus, 5.55</ref>
Cerceis
Ceto <ref>Nonnus, Dionysiaca 26.355</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref name="1.2.7" />
Chryseis
Clio <ref>Virgil, Georgics 4.341 calls Clio and Beroe "sisters, ocean-children both", possibly meaning they were Oceanids.</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8"/> and a muse.
Clitemneste
Clymene ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 156</ref> <ref>Tzetzes, Chiliades 4.19.359; possibly the same as the Clymene at Virgil, Georgics 4.345</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8" />
Clytie
Coryphe <ref>Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.59</ref>
Daeira <ref>Pausanias, 1.38.7; cf. Pherecydes, fr. 45 Fowler, where she is called a sister of Styx, so presumably an Oceanid, see Fowler 2013, p. 16.</ref>
Dione The name of a Nereid<ref name="1.2.7" />
Dodone <ref>Epaphroditus, fr. 57 Braswell–Billerbeck, see Braswell, pp. 240, 242; Harder, vol. 1 p. 196, vol. 2 p. 383.</ref>
Doris The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8" />
Electra
Ephyra ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 275.6</ref> <ref>Eumelus fr. 1 Fowler (apud Pausanias, 2.1.1)</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8" />
Euagoreis
Eudora The name of a Nereid<ref>Hesiod, Theogony 244; Apollodorus, 1.2.7</ref> and one of the Hyades<ref>Hyginus, Astronomica 2.21.1, Fabulae 192</ref>
Europa <ref>According to Andron of Halicarnassus fr. 7 Fowler = FGrHist 10 F 7, Europa was the daughter of Oceanus and Parthenope, see Fowler 2013, p. 13; Bouzek and Graninger, p. 12. Fowler 2013, p. 15, calls the name Parthenope, "elsewhere variously a Siren, a daughter of Ankaios, and a paramour of Herakles" an ad hoc invention.</ref>
Eurynome ✓+<ref>Also Apollodorus, 1.3.1</ref> <ref>Homer, Iliad 18.399, Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.503–504</ref>
Galaxaura
Hesione <ref>Acusilaus, fr. 34 Fowler; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 560.</ref>
Hestyaea
Hippo
Iache
Ianeira The name of a Nereid<ref>Homer, Iliad 18.47; Apollodorus, 1.2.7; Hyginus, Fabulae Th. 8</ref>
Ianthe
Ida ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 182; an outdated Latin text of Hyginus' Fabulae has Idothea, see Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 191 endnote to 182; West 1983, p. 133.</ref> Apollodorus, 1.1.6 makes the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, the nurses of Zeus, daughters of Melisseus, leader of the Kuretes of Crete
Idyia
or Eidyia
✓<ref>Apollodorus, 1.9.23</ref> <ref>Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica, 3.243–244</ref>
Leucippe
Libye <ref>According to Andron of Halicarnassus fr. 7 Fowler = FGrHist 10 F 7, Libye was the daughter of Oceanus and Pompholyge, see Fowler 2013, p. 13; Bouzek and Graninger, p. 12. Fowler 2013, p. 15, calls the name Pompholyge, an ad hoc invention.</ref>
Lyris
Lysithoe <ref>Ioannes Lydus, De Mensibus 4.67</ref> Mother of Heracles by Zeus in some myths.<ref>Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.42</ref>
Melia (consort of Apollo) <ref>Pindar, fr. 52k 43; Pausanias, 9.10.5</ref> See also (below) the Argive Oceanid Melia who was the consort of Inachus
Melia (consort of Inachus) ✓<ref name="2.1.1"/> Mother of Phoroneus by Inachus, according to Apollodorus,<ref name="2.1.1"/> however, according to Hyginus, the mother of Phoroneus was Argia.<ref name="Fabulae 143"/> See also (above) the Theban Oceanid Melia who was the consort of Apollo
Meliboea ✓<ref>Apollodorus, 3.8.1</ref>
Melite ✓<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8"/> The name of a Nereid<ref>Hesiod, Theogony 247; Homer, Iliad 18.42; Apollodorus, 1.2.7</ref>
Melobosis
Menestho
Menippe
Mentis
Merope ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 154</ref>
Metis ✓<ref>Also Apollodorus, 1.2.1</ref>
Mopsopia <ref>According to Suda, s.v. Εὐφορίων, Attica was previously called "Mopsopia"after a daughter of Oceanus.</ref>
Neaera <ref>Hesychius of Alexandria s. v. Νέαιρα</ref>
Nemesis <ref>Pausanias, 1.33.3</ref> A daughter of Nyx according to Hesiod and Hyginus<ref>Hesiod, Theogony 223; Hyginus, Fabulae Th. 1</ref>
Ocyrhoe
Pasiphae
Pasithoe
Peitho <ref>Pherecydes, fr. 66 Fowler</ref>
Periboea <ref>Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48.248</ref>
Perse
or Perseis
✓+<ref>Also Hesiod, Theogony 956</ref> ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 156; here, spelled "Persis", spelled "Perse" at Hyginus, Fabulae Th. 36.</ref> <ref>Homer, Odyssey 10.139; Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. 35A Fowler; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.48; Tzetzes, Chiliades 4.19.358</ref>
Petraea
Phaeno
Philyra ✓<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 138</ref> <ref>Eumelus fr. 12 West = Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.554 (see also Evelyn-White, pp. 482, 483); Pherecydes, fr. 50 Fowler = Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 2.1231–41a; cf. Callimachus, Hymn 1—To Zeus 33–36</ref>
Pleione ✓<ref>Apollodorus, 3.10.1</ref> ✓<ref>cf. Hyginus, Fabulae 192</ref> <ref>Ovid, Fasti 5.81–84</ref>
Plexaura The name of a Nereid<ref name="1.2.7"/>
Plouto or Pluto
Polydora
Polyphe <ref>Suda, s.v. Ἱππεία Ἀθηνᾶ</ref>
Polyxo
Prymno
Rhodea,
Rhodeia,
or Rhodia
Rhodope
Rhodos
or Rhode
<ref>Epimenides, fr. 11 Fowler</ref> A daughter of Poseidon and Aphrodite<ref>Apollodorus, 1.4.5; Herodorus, fr. 62 Fowler; Diodorus Siculus, 5.55</ref>
The Sirens <ref>Epimenides, fr. 8 Fowler</ref> Usually the daughters of Achelous and Melpomene<ref>Apollodorus, 1.3.4, 1.7.10, E.7.18; Hyginus, Fabulae 125.13, 141.1; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.896</ref><ref>Fowler 2013, pp. 30–31</ref>
Stilbo
Styx <ref>Epimenides, fr. 7 Fowler</ref> According to Hyginus a daughter of Nyx<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae Th. 1.</ref>
Telesto
Theia <ref>Fowler, p. 323</ref> Mother of the Cercopes
Thoe The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8"/>
Thraike <ref>According to Andron of Halicarnassus fr. 7 Fowler = FGrHist 10 F 7, Thraike was the daughter of Oceanus and Parthenope, see Fowler 2013, p. 13; Bouzek and Graninger, p. 12. Fowler 2013, p. 15, calls the name Parthenope, "elsewhere variously a Siren, a daughter of Ankaios, and a paramour of Herakles" an ad hoc invention.</ref>
Tyche
Urania
Xanthe <ref>Possibly the same as the Xantho, at Virgil, Georgics 4.336.</ref> The name of a Nereid<ref name="Fabulae Th. 8"/>
Zeuxo

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