Nymphs in Greek mythology

Some members of the family have gone very much to the bad, although this may be ascribed to temptation from gods such as Dionysos who taught them to drink wine and join in drunken revels. Innocent and virginal nymphs are always at the mercy of such lustful gods as Zeus, who sometimes go to great lengths to trick them into surrender.

The nymphs could be aggresive in their love as it is proved by the abduction of Hylas, or by the killing of Hymnus. They had the divine power of changing the shape of things: this same Hylas was turned into an echo, and some women were transformed into nymphs by the Nymphs themselves.

The nymphs were often the nurses of the gods. Such are the cases of Zeus and Dionysus among others.

Family
1. Zeus and Dino
2. Achelous and unknown
3. Sperchius and Dino

These are the parentages of the nymphs. Achelous and Sperchius are river gods. Dino is one of the Graeae, a daughter of Phorcus and Ceto 1, divinities of the sea.

This is how the Meliads (nymphs of the Ash-trees) came to be: Cronos the Titan revolted against the first ruler of the universe, his father Uranus, and waiting for him in an ambush took a long sickle with jagged teeth, cut off Uranus' genitals and cast them away to fall behind him. The bloody drops that gushed forth were received by the Earth (Gaia), and in time she bore the Erinyes, the Giants, and the Meliad nymphs.

Other parentages are also given for individual Nymphs.