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 ...

, Thyia (; , derived from the verb ) was the Naiad-nymph of a spring on Mount Parnassos in Phokis (central Greece) and was a female figure associated with cults of several major gods.

Mythology

In the

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

c tradition, Thyia was also the Naiad-nymph of a spring on Mount Parnassos in

Phocis Phocis (; ; ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gu ...

(central Greece), daughter of the river god Cephissus or the hero Castalius, one of the earliest inhabitants of Delphi or by other traditions Thyia was a daughter of Deucalion and had two sons by Zeus, Magnes and Macedon. Her shrine was the site for the gathering of the Thyiades (women who celebrated in the orgies= ancient religious ceremony of the god

Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Greek ...

). She was said to have been the first to sacrifice to Dionysus and to celebrate orgies in his honour. Hence, the

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...

women, who every year went to Mount Parnassus to celebrate the Dionysiac orgies with the Delphian Thyiades, received themselves the name of Thyades or Thyiades (synonymous with

Maenads In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the ''thiasus''. Their name, which comes from :wikt:μαίνομαι#Ancient Greek, μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to ...

). She was said to have loved

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and bore him a son, Delphos, the eponymous founder of town

, beside the oracular shrine. She was also closely associated with the prophetic

Castalian Spring The Castalian Spring, in the ravine between the Phaedriades at Delphi, is where all visitors to Delphi — the contestants in the Pythian Games, and especially pilgrims who came to consult the Delphic Oracle — stopped to wash themsel ...

, from which she was sometimes said to have been born (Pausanias follows a tradition that made her daughter of the autochthon

Castalius ''Castalius'' is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as Pierrots. This name is also often used for the very closely related genus '' Tarucus''. In fact, the delimitation of ''Castalius'' versus ''Tarucus'' is not ...

). Thyia was also related to

Castalia Castalia (), in ancient Greek and Roman literature, was the name of a spring near Delphi, sacred to the Muses; it is also known as the Castalian Spring. It is said to have derived its name from Castalia, a naiad-nymph, daughter of the river-g ...

, the nymph of the spring; Melaena, an alternative mother for Delphos; and the Corycian nymphs, Naiades of the springs of the holy

Corycian Cave The Corycian Cave (; ) is located in central Greece on the southern slopes of Mount Parnassus, in Parnassus National Park, which is situated north of Delphi. The Corycian Cave has been a sacred space since the Neolithic era, and its name comes f ...

. Pausanias
10.6.4
/ref> Thyia was also reported to have had an affair with

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

, and to have been a close friend of

Chloris In Greek mythology, the name Chloris (; Greek Χλωρίς ''Chlōrís'', from χλωρός ''chlōrós'', meaning "greenish-yellow", "pale green", "pale", "pallid", or "fresh") appears in a variety of contexts. Some clearly refer to different ch ...

, wife of Neleus, son of Poseidon.Pausanias
10.29.5
/ref> A sacred precinct of Thyia was reported to have been located in the city of the same name, with an altar to the

Anemoi In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, the Anemoi () were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various nature, ...

set up during the

Greco-Persian Wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Polis, Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world ...

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

7.178.1
The name was applied to the

white cedar White cedar may refer to several different trees: * Bignoniaceae ** '' Tabebuia heterophylla'' - native to Caribbean islands and also cultivated as an ornamental tree * Cupressaceae: ** ''Chamaecyparis thyoides'' – Atlantic white cypress ** ''Cup ...

and its genus, ''

Thuja ''Thuja'' ( ) is a genus of coniferous tree or shrub in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to ''Thujopsis''. M ...

'', by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

(1753).

Literature

Herodotus, Histories 7. 178. 1 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) : " uring the historical Persian War :So with all speed the Greeks went their several ways to meet the enemy he Persians In the meantime, the Delphians, who were afraid for themselves and for Hellas, consulted the god. They were advised to pray to the Anemoi (Winds), for these would be potent allies for Hellas. When they had received the oracle, the Delphians first sent word of it to those Greeks who desired to be free; because of their dread of the barbarian, they were forever grateful. Subsequently they erected an altar to the winds at Thyia, the present location of the precinct of Thyia the daughter of Kephisos (Cephisus), and they offered sacrifices to them." Pausanias, Description of Greece 10. 6. 4 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "Others maintain that Kastalios (Castalius) (of the Kastalian Spring), an aboriginal, had a daughter Thyia, who was the first to be priestess of Dionysos and celebrate orgies in honor of the god. It is said that later on men called after her Thyiades all women who rave in honor of Dionysos. At any rate they hold that Delphos (Delphus) was a son of Apollon and Thyia. Others say that his mother was Melaina (Melaena), daughter of Kephisos (Cephisus)." THYIA (Thuia). A daughter of Castalius or Cephisseus became by Apollo, the mother of Delphus. (Paus. x. 6. § 2; Herod. vii. 178.) She is said to have been the first to have sacrificed to Dionysus and to have celebrated orgies in his honour. Hence the Attic women, who every year went to Mount Parnassus to celebrate the Dionysiac orgies with the Delphian Thyiades, received themselves the name of Thyades or Thyiades. (Paus. l.c. x. 4. § 2, 22. § 5; comp. 29. § 2; Lobeck, Aglaoph. p. 285.)

Notes

References

, '' The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920
Online version at the Topos Text Project.Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*March, J., & Barrett, N. (2014). Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxbow Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh1djpk *Herodotus. ( 1996). Herodotus: the histories. London, Eng.; New York: Penguin Books, *Townsend, G. F. (2006). ''Aesops Fables''. ReadHowYouWant. com. *Celoria, F. (2018). ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A translation with a commentary''. Routledge. *Hadas, M. (1950). Chapter 4. CYCLIC POEMS, HOMERIC HYMNS, OTHER HOMERICA. In ''A History of Greek Literature'' (pp. 28–33). New York Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/hada90094-005 Ancient Greek religion Cult of Dionysus Mythology of Dionysus Divine women of Zeus Female lovers of Apollo Mythology of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Mythology of Phocis Naiads Mythological Phocians {{Greek-deity-stub