Rustic deities

These deities or gods are closely associated with having powers over the elements of nature. They are related with forests, mountains, plains, pastures, plantations and animals that come along with the nature.

Aetna - nymph goddess of the volcano Mount Etna in Sicily. She was a daughter of Uranus and Gaea and a mother of thermal geysers.

Anthousai - female flower nymphs. They were hanging out wherever flowers could be found. They had the ability to turn themselves into flowers.

Aristaeus - god of bee-keeping, honey-making and olive-growing. He was also a god of herding, cheese-making and hunting. It is said that he was a son of Apollo and nymph Cyrene.

Attis - god of vegetation whose ever-repeating cycle of self-consumption, death and resurrection represented a cycle of the fruits of the earth. He was a consort of Cybele who made him castrate himself as a punishment for his infidelity.

Britomartis - goddess of hunting and trapping. She was once a huntress in Crete, where Minos was trying to seduce her. She, however, was able to escape him by running the length of the whole island and jumped from the cliff into the sea, where she was trapped by fish nets. She was saved by Artemis who liked her brave and instinctful nature. Artemis later made her a goddess.

Cabeiri - twin gods who presided over the dancing orgies of the Mysteries of the islands of Lemnos and Samothrace which were held in honor to Demeter, Persephone and Hecate. They were dwarf-like beings, sons of Hephaestus and were skilled metal-workers who helped their father at his forge.

Chloris - goddess of new growth and flowers. She was a wife of Zephyrus and allegedly had a dwelling place in the Elysian Fields.

Comus - god of festivity and revelry. He was a son of Dionysus and served his father as a cup-bearer.

Corymbus - god of the fruits of the ivy. He accompanied Dionysus in his Bacchic orgies.

Curetes (Cretan) - youth rustic spirits that, according to some versions of the myth, guarded an infant Zeus on Mount Aigaion, when Gaea or Rhea hid him below the surface to prevent his discovery by his father Cronus.

Cybele - Phrygian mother goddess who was worshiped in western and central Anatolia. For the locals she had same meaning as Rhea, the mother of gods.

Dactyls (fingers) - minor deities, originally representing fingers of a hand. They served Rhea just as fingers serve a hand. They were hard workers and were skilled with iron and fire.

Dryades - forest nymphs of trees, specifically oak trees. Normally, they were very shy but were good friends with Artemis and often came to accompany her in a forest when no other god or mortal was present.

Gaea - primeval goddess of the earth. She was a daughter of Chaos(universe) and a mother of Uranus(heavens), Pontus(sea) and Ourea(mountains). With Uranus, she also gave birth to twelve titans, three Hekatoncheries and three Cyclopes, and first sea-gods with Pontus. Gaea was also a mother of various spirits and creatures.

Epimeliades - nymphs of the sheep and highland pastures. They protected their sheep flocks and goat herds.

Hamadryades - spirits who were connected with trees. It is said that they actually lived inside a tree and if the tree died, the Hamadryad associated with it also died.

Hecaterus - god of the hekateris, the rustic dance of quickly moving hands. He fathered five Dactyls and five Hekaterides.

Horae (hours)- goddesses of natural order and justice. However, they were originally represented as personifications of different seasons.

Korybantes - armed and crested dancers who worshipped Cybele and were a part of ritual dances, where they were clashing shields and spears.

Maenades - female followers in the retinue of Dionysus. They travelled alone and were gathering tribute for their god. If tribute was not given, they casted a spell of "frenzy" on these people which left them inebriated and therefore enchanted with uncontrollable sexual desire and with a complete loss of senses.

Meliae - nymphs of ash tree and honey. It is believed that they were born out of Uranus' blood, spilled upon Gaea when he was castrated.

Nymphai Hyperboreioi - three Hyperborean nymphs that presided over the aspects of archery. They were worshiped on the island of Delos and were attendants of Artemis. Their names were Hekaerge (represented distancing), Loxo (represented trajectory) and Oupis (represented aim).

Oreades - mountain, valley and ravine nymphs. Most known were Adrasteia, a nursemaid of infant Zeus, and Echo, a nymph cursed never to speak except to repeat the words of others.

Ourea - primeval gods of mountains. They were one of the first-born children of Gaea and it is said that every mountain had its own Ourea god or goddess. Most known are Aetna, Olympus and Oreios(god of mount Othrys)

Pan - god of the wild, shepherds, pastures, hunting and rustic music. He could be seen in a company of nymphs, panes and satyrs.

Priapus - god of fertility. He was a protector of fruits, livestock, gardens, bees, vines and male genitals. He is said to be a son of either Hermes or Dionysus and Aphrodite.

Silenus - old rustic god of dance and drunkenness. He accompanied Dionysus on his journeys and was the god's tutor of winemanking.

Telete - goddess of initiation into the Bacchic rituals. She was a daughter of Dionysus and served and accompanied her father. She was also associated with night-time parties and orgies.

Zagreus - god of the Orphic mysteries. He was a son of Zeus and Demeter or, according to some sources, a son of Zeus and Persephone who got seduced by the king of gods in the shape of a serpent.