The Thriae (; grc, Θριαί, Thriaí) were

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

s, three virginal sisters, one of a number of such triads in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

. They were named ''

Melaina In Greek mythology, Melaena or Melena ( grc, Μέλαινα, Mélaina, feminine grc, μέλᾱς, mélās "black, dark"), Melane ( grc-x-koine, Μελανή, Melanḗ) or MelanisScholia on Euripides, ''Orestes'' 1094 was a Corycian nymph, or mem ...

'' ("The Black"), ''

Kleodora In Greek mythology, Kleodora or Cleodora () ("Glorious Gift", in reference to her gift of prophecy) was one of the prophetic Thriae, nymphs who divined the future by throwing stones or pebbles and were associated with the Oracle of Delphi. She and h ...

'' ("Famed for her Gift"), and ''Daphnis'' ("Laurel") or ''

Corycia In Greek mythology, Corycia (Ancient Greek: Κωρύκια ''Korykia'') or Corycis (Kôrukis), was a naiad who lived on Mount Parnassus in Phocis. Family Corycia's father was the local river-god Kephisos or Pleistos of northern Boeotia. With A ...

''.

Mythology

They were the three

Naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) 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 ...

s (

s) of the sacred springs of the Corycian Cave of

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

Phocis Phocis ( el, Φωκίδα ; grc, Φωκίς) 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 Vardo ...

, and the patrons of

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s. The nymphs had women's heads and torsos and lower body and wings of a bee. The nymph sisters were romantically linked to the gods

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

and

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

; Corycia, the sister after whom the Corycian Cave was named, was the mother of

Lycoreus In Greek mythology, Lycorus or Lycoreus (Ancient Greek: Λυκωρεύς) may refer to the following personages: * Lycoreus or Lycorus, was a son of Apollo and the nymph Corycia. After him a city was named Lycoreia (later Delphi, after Delphus, gre ...

with

, Kleodora was loved by

, and was the mother by him (or Kleopompos) of Parnassos (who founded the city of Parnassus) while Melaina was also loved by

, and bore him Delphos (although another tradition names

Thyia In Greek mythology, Thyia (; grc, Θυία ''Thuia'' derived from the verb ''θύω'' "to sacrifice") was a female figure associated with cults of several major gods. Mythology In the Delphic tradition, Thyia was also the naiad of a spring on ...

as the mother of Delphos). Her name, meaning "the black," suggests that she presided over

subterranean Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to: * Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made Literature * ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins * ''Subterranean Magazine'', an American fa ...

nymphs. These three bee maidens with the power of

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

and thus speaking truth are described in the ''

Homeric Hymn The ''Homeric Hymns'' () are a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods. The hymns are "Homeric" in the sense that they employ the same epic meter—dactylic hexameter—as the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'', ...

to Hermes'', and the food of the gods is "identified as honey"; the bee maidens were originally associated with

, and are probably not correctly identified with the Thriae. Both the Thriae and the Bee Maidens are credited with assisting Apollo in developing his adult powers, but the divination that Apollo learned from the Thriae differs from that of the Bee Maidens. The type of divination taught by the Thriae to Apollo was that of mantic pebbles, the throwing of stones, rather than the type of divination associated with the Bee Maidens and Hermes: cleromancy, the casting of lots. Honey, according to a Greek myth, was discovered by a nymph called Melissa ("Bee"); and honey was offered to the Greek gods from Mycenean times. Bees were associated, too, with the

Delphic oracle Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness ...

and the prophetess was sometimes called a bee.

Notes

References

* Evelyn-White, Hugh, ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White''. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. *

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

, ''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
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius
''The Myths of Hyginus''
Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. * Scheinberg, Susan 1979. "The Bee Maidens of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes" Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 83 (1979), pp.1–28. * Larson, Jennifer. “The Corycian Nymphs and the Bee Maidens of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes.” Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, (1996): 341-357.

External links

{{Authority control Nymphs Characters in Greek mythology Women of Apollo Women of Poseidon Classical oracles Mythological Greek seers Oracular goddesses Women in Greek mythology