Nymphs in the context of "Grove (nature)"

The ancient Greeks had numerous water deities. The philosopher Plato once remarked that the Greek people were like frogs sitting around a pond—their many cities hugging close to the Mediterranean coastline from the Hellenic homeland to Asia Minor, Libya, Sicily, and southern Italy. Thus, they venerated a rich variety of water divinities. The range of Greek water deities of the classical era range from primordial powers and an Olympian on the one hand, to heroized mortals, chthonic nymphs, trickster-figures, and monsters on the other.

In Greek mythology, Melia or Melie (Ancient Greek Μελία, Μελίη) was the name of several figures. The name Melia comes from μελία, the ancient Greek word for ash-tree. In the plural, the Meliae were a class of nymphs associated with trees, particularly ash-trees. There were several other nymphs (or possible nymphs) named Melia, not necessarily associated with trees, these include:

• Melia, a Theban cult figure, who was the mother of Tenerus and Ismenus, by Apollo. She was said to be a daughter of Oceanus.
• Melia, mother of Phoroneus and Aegialeus, by her brother Inachus, the Argive river-god. She was also said to be a daughter of Oceanus.
• Melia, an Oceanid and a Bithynian nymph, who was the mother, by Poseidon, of Amycus, king of the Bebryces.
• Melia, the mother by Silenus of Dolion, the eponym of the Doliones. This is according to the third-century BC poet and grammarian Alexander Aetolus, as reported by the late first-century BC-early first-century AD geographer Strabo.
• Melia, the mother by Apollo of Keos, the eponym of the island Keos, according to the third-century BC poet Callimachus.

Two other personages named Melia, are known from scholia citing the fifth-century BC mythographer Pherecydes:

In Greek mythology, the mountainous district of Nysa (Ancient Greek: Νῦσα, romanized: Nûsa), variously associated with Ethiopia, Libya, Boeotia, Thrace, India, or Arabia by Greek mythographers, was the traditional place where the rain nymphs, the Hyades, raised the infant god Dionysus, the "God of Nysa."

In Greek mythology, the name Ismenus (Ancient Greek: Ἰσμηνός) or Ismenius may refer to:

• Ismenus or Ismenius, son of Oceanus and Tethys, god of the river of the same name. He was mentioned as the father of several spring nymphs, including Dirce and Strophia, also Crocale and the musician Linus. In Statius' Thebaid, the river god Ismenus gets involved in the war of the Seven against Thebes: he attempts to raise his waters against Hippomedon in revenge for the death of Crenaeus, son of his daughter Ismenis by Pan, but has to withdraw his attack at the request of Zeus.
• Ismenus, son of Asopus and Metope, eponym of River Ismenus in Boeotia, on the banks of which he settled.
• Ismenus, one of the Niobids.
• Ismenus, also spelled Ismenius, son of Apollo and the Oceanid Melia, brother of the seer Tenerus, and an alternate eponym of River Ismenus, which is said to have previously been known as Ladon.

Alcinoe (/ælˈsɪnoʊ.iː/; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκινόη, romanized: Alkinóē, lit. 'strong-minded') is the name that is attributed to three women in Greek mythology:

• Alcinoe, a naiad, and one of the nymphs of Mount Lykaion in Arcadia. Her parents possibly were Oceanus and Tethys. She had her fellow nymphs assist Rhea whilst she was in labour with Zeus and helped nurse the infant god.
• Alcinoë, daughter of King Polybus of Corinth and possibly his queen Periboea. She became the wife of Amphilochus, son of Dryas. Alcinoë was cursed by Athena to fall in love with Xanthus of Samos for refusing to pay the spinner Nicandra her due wages.
• Alcinoe, a daughter of Sthenelus, and a granddaughter of Perseus.