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 ...

, a Hamadryad or Hamadryas (; ) is a tree

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

. They are born bonded to a certain tree on which their life depends. Some maintain that a Hamadryad is the tree itself, with a normal dryad being simply the indwelling

entity An entity is something that Existence, exists as itself. It does not need to be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is Lif ...

, or spirit, of the tree. If the tree should die, the Hamadryad associated with it would die as well. For this reason, both dryads and the other gods would punish mortals who harmed trees.

Etymology

The name of the Hamadryades was compounded from the ancient Greek words háma (, Doric: , "together, concurrently") and dryás (, "tree, wood nymph"). This informs the understanding that the life of a Hamadryas is concurrent with that of its tree: one cannot exist without the other.

List of Hamadryads

The Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus lists eight Hamadryads, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas: * Karya (

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

) * Balanos (

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

) * Kraneia (

dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous ...

) * Morea (

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

) * Aigeiros (

black poplar ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

) * Ptelea (

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

) * Ampelos (vines, especially ''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

'') * Syke/Sykea ( fig)

Other Hamadryads

Atlanteia In Greek mythology, Atlanteia or Atlantia (Ancient Greek: Ἀτλαντείης) was a Hamadryad nymph who consorted with King Danaus of Libya and perhaps the mother of some of the Danaïdes: Hippodamia, Rhodia, Cleopatra, Asteria, Hippodamia, Gla ...

Chrysopeleia In Greek mythology, Chrysopeleia (; ) was a hamadryad nymph. Mythology The most prolonged account of her is given in John Tzetzes' scholia on Lycophron, and runs as follows. The tree in which Chrysopeleia dwelt was put in danger by the waters ...

* Phoebe *

Byblis In Greek mythology, Byblis or Bublis (Ancient Greek: Βυβλίς) was a daughter of Miletus. Her mother was either Tragasia, daughter of Celaenus; Parthenius11from Aristocritus' ''History of Miletus'' and the ''Foundation of Caunus'' by Ap ...

Dryope In Greek mythology, Dryope (; Ancient Greek: Δρυόπη derived from δρῦς ''drys'', "oak"; ''dryope'' "woodpecker") is the name attributed to several distinct figures: *Dryope (daughter of Dryops), Dryope, daughter of Dryops (Oeta), Dryops ...

Heliades In Greek mythology, the Heliades (Ancient Greek: Ἡλιάδες means 'daughters of the sun') also called Phaethontides (meaning "daughters of Phaethon") were the daughters of Helios and Clymene, an Oceanid nymph. Names According to one ve ...

Hesperides In Greek mythology, the Hesperides (; , ) are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides () from their reputed father, Atlas (mytholog ...

Scientific names

The mother, Hamadryas, is immortalized in three scientific names, two of which are still valid: the generic name of the cracker butterfly, the specific name of the northernmost monkey in

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, the

hamadryas baboon The hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'' ; gawina;Aerts 2019 , Ar Robbaḥ) is a species of baboon within the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern region o ...

, and the original (but no longer valid) genus name of the

king cobra The king cobra (''Ophiophagus hannah'') is a species complex of snakes Endemism, endemic to Asia. With an average of and a record length of , it is the world's longest venomous snake and among the heaviest. Under the genus ''Ophiophagus'', i ...

(originally ''Hamadryas hannah'', now ''Ophiophagus hannah''). The cracker butterfly is more arboreal than most butterflies, as it commonly camouflages itself on trees. It feeds on sap, rotting fruit and dung. The hamadryas baboon is one of the least arboreal monkeys, but was the most common monkey in Hellenic lands. The king cobra is sometimes considered arboreal or semi-arboreal, and is also referred to by the common name "hamadryad", especially in older literature.

Notes

References

* ''

Brill's New Pauly The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field o ...

: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 5'', Equ – Has, edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2004. .