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and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse ]] In Greek Mythology , a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature entities, sometimes bound to a particular location or landform. Nymphs often accompanied various gods and goddesses, and were the frequent target of lusty Satyr s. They are personifications of the creative and fostering activities of nature. The ''nubere'' and German Knospe) to a root expressing the idea of "swelling" (according to Hesychius , one of the meanings of νύμφη is "rose-bud"). The home of the nymphs is on mountains and in groves, by springs and rivers, in valleys and cool grottoes. They are frequently associated with the superior divinities, the huntress Artemis , the prophetic Apollo , the reveller and god of Tree s Dionysus , and with rustic gods such as Pan and Hermes (as the god of shepherds). NYMPH CLASSIFICATIONS The different species of nymph are sometimes distinguished according to the different spheres of nature with which they were connected. However, many of these distinctions may not have existed in popular belief at any time, being late inventions. As Rose (1959, P. 173) states, "the fact is that all these names are simply feminine adjectives, agreeing with the substantive ''nympha'', and there was no orthodox and exhaustive classification of these shadowy beings." He mentions (pp. 172–3) dryads and hamadryads as nymphs of trees generally, meliai as nymphs of Ash Tree s, and naiads as nymphs of water, but no others specifically.
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