NAIS

NAIS was a Naiad-nymph of the springs of the town of Pyrrhikhos (Pyrrhichus) on the Malean peninsular of Lakedaimonia (southern Greece). She was the wife of the old rustic-god Seilenos (Silenus).

Nais was probably the same as the nymph Melia.

PARENTS

Perhaps a daughter of OKEANOS or a local RIVER-GOD

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Pausanias, Description of Greece 3. 52. 2 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Inland, forty stades from the river [Skyras (Scyras) on the Malean peninsular in Lakonia], lies Pyrrhikhos (Pyrrhichus), the name of which is said to be derived from Pyrrhos (Pyrrhus) [Neoptolemos] the son of Akhilleus (Achilles); according to another account Pyrrhikhos was one of the gods called Kouretes (Curetes).
Others say that Silenos (Silenus) came from Malea and settled here. That Silenos was brought up in Malea is clear from these words in an ode of Pindar : ‘The mighty one, the dancer, whom the mount of Malea nurtured, husband of Nais (of the Spring), Silenos.’ Not that Pindar said his name was Pyrrhikhos; that is a statement of the men of Malea. At Pyrrhikhos there is a well in the market-place, considered to be the gift of Silenos. If this were to fail, they would be short of water . . . From Pyrrhikhos the road comes down to the sea at Teuthrone . . . [They] have a spring Naia."

SOURCES

GREEK

• Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.