Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Ida or Ide (

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

: Ἴδη, ''Idē'', 'wooded mountain') was one of the nurses of the infant

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

Mythology

According to Apollodorus, Rhea gave the infant Zeus to the nymphs

Adrasteia In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Adrasteia (; , ), also spelled Adrastia, Adrastea, Adrestea, Adastreia or Adrasta), originally a Phrygian mountain goddess, probably associated with Cybele, was later a Cretan nymph, and daughter of Meli ...

and Ida, daughters of

Melisseus In Greek mythology, Melisseus (Ancient Greek: Μελισσεύς means 'bee-man' or 'honey-man'), the father of the nymphs Adrasteia, Ida and Althaea who were nurses of the infant Zeus on Crete. His parentage differs from telling to telling, rangi ...

, to nurse, and they fed Zeus on the milk of the goat Amalthea. According to

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

, Ida and Adrasteia (along with Amalthea) were daughters of Oceanus, whom "others say they were the daughters of Melisseus". She was associated with the Cretan Mount Ida. According to the second-century geographer

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 t ...

, Ida was represented, on the altar of Athena Alea at

Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal un ...

. Ida was one of eight nymphs on either side of the central figures of Rhea and the nymph Oenoe holding the infant Zeus. On one side were

Glauce In Greek mythology, Glauce (; Ancient Greek: Γλαυκή ''Glaukê'' means 'blue-gray' or 'gleaming'), Latin Glauca, refers to different people: *Glauce, an Arcadian nymph, one of the nurses of Zeus. She and the other nurses were represente ...

, Neda, Theisoa and Anthracia, and on the other Ida, Hagno,

Alcinoe Alcinoe (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκινόη ''Alkinóē'') is the name that is attributed to three women in Greek mythology: *Alcinoe, a naiad, and one of the ''nymphai Lykaaides'' (nymphs of Mount Lykaios in Arkadia). Her parents possibly w ...

and

Phrixa Phrixa ( grc, Φρίξα) or Phrixae or Phrixai (Φρίξαι) was a town of Triphylia in ancient Elis, situated upon the left bank of the Alpheius, at the distance of 30 stadia from Olympia. It is one of the six cities (along with Lepreum, Maci ...

. According to Diodorus Siculus, Zeus rewarded Ida and Adrasteia by turning them into the constellations of

Ursa Major Ursa Major (; also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear," referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa ...

and

Ursa Minor Ursa Minor (Latin: 'Lesser Bear', contrasting with Ursa Major), also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation located in the far northern sky. As with the Great Bear, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of a ladle, ...

. Diodorus Siculus
4.80.1
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Notes

References

* Apollodorus, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, MA,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8'', translated by C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library No. 340. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1939.
Online version at Harvard University PressOnline version at ToposText
* Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Grimal, Pierre, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, . * Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition.'' Penguin Books Limited. 2017. *Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, . * Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''

Fabulae Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

'' in ''Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma'', Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. . * Larson, Jennifer, "Greek Nymphs : Myth, Cult, Lore", Oxford University Press (US). June 2001. . * Kern, Otto. ''Orphicorum Fragmenta'', Berlin, 1922
Internet Archive
*

, ''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
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). {{ISBN, 069022608X. Oceanids Cretan characters in Greek mythology