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 beloved by a shepherd, Hymnus, and killed him, but Eros took vengeance upon her, and Dionysus, who first intoxicated her, made her mother of Telete, whereupon she attempted to hang herself; yet she did live to see Aura, another nymph seduced by Dionysus, getting into labor and giving birth to Iacchus. Dionysus called the town of Nicaea after her.

References

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

See also

• Greco-Roman mysteries

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).