A dryad (/ˈdr.æd/; Greek: Δρυάδες, sing.: Δρυάς) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. Drys signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, but the term has come to be used for tree nymphs in general,[1] or human-tree hybrids in fantasy. They were normally considered to be very shy creatures except around the goddess Artemis, who was known to be a friend to most nymphs.

The Dryad by Evelyn De Morgan.
GroupingLegendary creature



These were nymphs of the laurel trees.


The Maliades, Meliades or Epimelides were nymphs of apple and other fruit trees and the protectors of sheep. The Greek word melas—from which their name derives—means both apple and sheep. Hesperides, the guardians of the golden apples were regarded as these type of dryad.


Dryads, like all nymphs, were supernaturally long-lived and tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the hamadryads who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For these reasons, dryads and the Greek gods punished any mortals who harmed trees without first propitiating the tree-nymphs. (associated with Oak trees)


The dryads of the ash tree were called the Meliae.[1] The Meliae sisters tended the infant Zeus in Rhea's Cretan cave. Gaea gave birth to the Meliae after being made fertile by the blood of castrated Uranus. The Caryatids were associated with walnut trees.[1]


Some of the individual dryads or hamadryads are:

In popular cultureEdit

Dryad and Boar sculpture by the Bromsgrove Guild

See alsoEdit



  1. ^ a b c Graves, ch. 86.2; p. 289
  2. ^ Bibliotheca 2. 1. 5
  3. ^ Tzetzes on Lycophron, 480
  4. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.330 ff
  5. ^ Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 32
  6. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8. 4. 2
  7. ^ Propertius, Elegies 1. 18
  8. ^ Nonnus, Dionysiaca 2. 92 ff :
  9. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece 10. 32. 9
  10. ^ J. Simpson; E. Weiner, eds. (1989). "Dryad". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-861186-2.
  11. ^ Martha E. Cook (1979). "Dryads and Flappers". The Southern Literary Journal. University of North Carolina Press. 12 (1): 18–26. JSTOR 20077624.
  12. ^ Britzolakis, Christina (2000). Sylvia Plath and the theatre of mourning. Oxford English Monographs. Oxford University Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0-19-818373-9.
  13. ^ Norman Donaldson, "Oliver Onions", in E.F. Bleiler, ed. Supernatural Fiction Writers. New York: Scribner's, 1985. pp.505-512. ISBN 0684178087
  14. ^ Lev Grossman, The Magician King. New York: Viking, 2011. pp.343-357. ISBN 978067002231-1
  15. ^ https://randalljahnson.com/dryads-girls-dont-cry/
  16. ^ Dryad Lake. SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica


External linksEdit