Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Crocale (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Κροκάλη means ‘sea-shore, beach’) was a

naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...

in the train of

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

, ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'' 3.169 She was probably from Thebes by the account of her parentage.

Family

Crocale was the daughter of the

river-god A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with Water and religion, water or various Body of water, bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a gr ...

Ismenus 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 ...

, and thus possibly the sister of other naiads:

Dirce Dirce (; , , modern Greek , meaning "double" or "cleft") was a queen of Thebes as the wife of Lycus in Greek mythology. Family Dirce was a daughter of the river-gods Achelous or Ismenus, or of Helios. Mythology After Zeus impregnated Di ...

, Strophia, Ismenis; and the younger Linus, the music teacher of

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

Mythology

Crocale only appeared in the account of

in his ''

'' where she was mentioned as one of the nymph attendants of Artemis who was accidentally seen naked by the hunter

Actaeon In Greek mythology, Actaeon (; ''Aktaiōn'') was the son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, and a famous Thebes, Greece, Theban Greek hero cult, hero. Through his mother he was a member of the ruling House of Cadmus. Like ...

: : “After

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

(i.e. Artemis) entered with her nymphs, : she gave her javelin, quiver and her bow : to one accustomed to the care of arms; : she gave her mantle to another nymph : who stood near by her as she took it off; : two others loosed the sandals from her feet; : but Crocale, the daughter of Ismenus, : more skillful than her sisters, gathered up : the goddess' scattered tresses in a knot;— : her own were loosely wantoned on the breeze. : Then in their ample urns dipt up the wave : and poured it forth, the cloud-nymph

Nephele In Greek and Roman mythology, Nephele (; ; corresponding to Latin ''nebula'') is the name of two figures associated with clouds, sometimes confused with each other, who figures respectively in the stories of Ixion and in the story of Phrixus and ...

, : the nymph of crystal pools called Hyale, : the rain-drop Rhanis, Psecas of the dews, : and Phyale the guardian of their urns. : And while they bathed Diana in their streams, : Actaeon, wandering through the unknown woods, : entered the precincts of that sacred grove; : with steps uncertain wandered he as fate : directed, for his sport must wait till morn.— : soon as he entered where the clear springs welled : or trickled from the grotto's walls, the nymphs, : now ready for the bath, beheld the man, : smote on their breasts, and made the woods resound, : suddenly shrieking. Quickly gathered they : to shield Diana with their naked forms, but she : stood head and shoulders taller than her guards.— : she as clouds bright-tinted by the slanting sun, : or purple-dyed

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

, so appeared : Diana's countenance when she was seen.”Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 3.155-185

References

Naiads {{Greek-deity-stub Women in Greek mythology Mythological Thebans Theban mythology Children of Greek river gods