Hamadryad
Sign in to savethumb|Tile mosaic of Pan (mythology)|Pan and a Hamadryad, found in [[Pompeii]] In Greek mythology, a Hamadryad or Hamadryas (; ) is a tree nymph. They are born bonded to a certain tree on which their life depends. Some maintain that a Hamadryad is the tree itself, with a normal dryad being simply the indwelling entity, or spirit, of the tree. If the tree should die, the Hamadryad associated with it would die as well. For this reason, both dryads and the other gods would punish mortals (such as King Erysichthon) who harmed trees.
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8 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Mythology
- List of Hamadryads
- Scientific names
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- See also
thumb|Tile mosaic of Pan (mythology)|Pan and a Hamadryad, found in [[Pompeii]] In Greek mythology, a Hamadryad or Hamadryas (; ) is a tree nymph. They are born bonded to a certain tree on which their life depends. Some maintain that a Hamadryad is the tree itself, with a normal dryad being simply the indwelling entity, or spirit, of the tree. If the tree should die, the Hamadryad associated with it would die as well. For this reason, both dryads and the other gods would punish mortals (such as King Erysichthon) who harmed trees.
==Etymology== The name of the Hamadryades was compounded from the ancient Greek words háma (, ) and dryás (, ). Because of this, the word contains the notion that the life of a Hamadryas is concurrent with that of its tree.