Nicaea (mythology)

For other uses, see Nicaea.

In Greek mythology, Nicaea was a nymph ("the Astakid nymph", as referred to by Nonnus), the daughter of the river-god Sangarius and Cybele.

She was a devotee of the goddess Artemis. When a shepherd, Hymen, pursued Nicaea, she killed him with an arrow to the heart. This enraged Eros, who inspired Dionysus to fall in love with her. Dionysus pursued her for a long while. When she continued to spurn his advances, Dionysus intoxicated her and then raped her while she slept.

Nicaea conceived Telete from this union; after her daughter’s birth, Nicaea attempted to hang herself. Although surviving stories do not tell if she made any further suicide attempts, she did live to see Aura, another nymph impregnated by Dionysus in the same manner, going into labor and giving birth to Iacchus, as described in Nonnus’s Dionysiaca.

Dionysus named the city Nicaea after her.

See also

• Greco-Roman mysteries

References

• Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 16 passim; 48. 866-876

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External links

• Theoi: Nikaia http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheNikaia.html