Doris
Mingling of Fresh-Water with the Brine of the Sea
Domains:
Oceanid
Category:
5E Alignment:
5E Domains:
5E Symbol:
Greek Name | Transliteration | Latin Spelling | Translation |
Δωρις | Dôris | Doris | Gift, Present (dôros), Pure Water (zôros) |
Ωκεανις Ωκεανιδες | Ôkeanis, Ôkeanides | Oceanid, Oceanids | Daughters of Oceanus |
DORIS was the Okeanid-nymph wife of the sea-god Nereus and the mother of the fifty Nereides. She may have been the goddess of the rich fishing-grounds found at the mouths of rivers where fresh water mingled with the brine. The Okeanides were of course sisters of the Rivers.
Her name is connected with two words--dôron, "gift" or "bounty," and zôros, "pure" and "unmixed." Zôros was often used to describe fresh water and from it were derived words such as zôrua "a pipe for running water" and zôrux "a canal or water conduit."
THE OKEANIDES (Oceanids) were three thousand goddess-nymphs who presided over the sources of earth's fresh-water--from rain-clouds to subterranean springs and fountains. Their numbers included the Nephelai (Cloud-Nymphs), Aurai (Breeze-Nymphs), Naiades (Spring and Fountain Nymphs), Leimonides (Pasture Nymphs), and Anthousai (Flower Nymphs). They were all daughters of the great, earth-encircling, fresh-water stream Okeanos (Oceanus) and his wife Tethys.
The eldest among them were numbered among the Titanides (female Titans)--Styx, Dione, Neda, Metis, Klymene, Eurynome, Doris, Elektra, and Pleione. These were most likely heavenly goddesses of the clouds.
Some of the Okeanides personified divine blessings such as Metis (Wisdom), Klymene (Fame), Plouto (Wealth), Tykhe (Good Fortune), Telesto (Success), and Peitho (Persuasion). The goddess Nemesis was sometimes also included in their number as one who provided balance by punishing undeserved good fortune as might arise from her sister's gifts. These Good Spirits (Daimones Agathoi) were ephemeral in nature much like the dark children of Nyx (Night), the Spirits of Harm (Daimones Kakoi).
Another group of Okeanides were handmaidens of the Olympian goddesses, the most prominent of these were the sixty Okeanis companions of Artemis, Peitho the handmaiden of Aphrodite, and Klymene the handmaiden of Hera.
The Naias-Okeanides (Naiads) were primarily nymphs of springs, wells and fountains. They were often portrayed as the wives of the Potamoi (River-Gods) and mothers of younger Naiades.
The Okeanides were occasionally described as sea-nymphs. In the late classical era the mythical, earth-encircling, fresh-water river Okeanos was increasingly equated with the briny Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and his nymph-daughters reimagined as marine deities.