In Greek mythology, Nesaea, Nesaia or Nisaea (Ancient Greek: Νησαίη Nêsaiê means 'the dweller on islands'[1]) was the "white" Nereid of islands,[2][3] one of the 50 marine-nymph daughters of the "Old Man of the Sea" Nereus and the Oceanid Doris.[4]

Mythology

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Nesaea was one of the Nereids who gathered round Thetis in her sympathetic grief for Achilles' loss of Patroclus.[5]

In some accounts, Nesaea, together with her sisters Thalia, Cymodoce and Spio, was one of the nymphs in the train of Cyrene[6] Later on, these four together with their other sisters Thetis, Melite and Panopea, were able to help the hero Aeneas and his crew during a storm.[7]

Legacy

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This name is used to describe a genus of plants in the family Lythraceae.

Notes

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  1. ^ Kerényi, Carl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 64.
  2. ^ Propertius, Elegies 2.26a.16
  3. ^ Bane, Theresa (2013). Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 247 . ISBN 9780786471119.
  4. ^ Homer, Iliad 18.40; Hesiod, Theogony 249; Apollodorus, 1.2.7; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
  5. ^ Homer, Iliad 18.39-51
  6. ^ Virgil, Georgics 4.338
  7. ^ Virgil, Aeneid 5.826

References

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