Hamadryad
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Hamadryads (Ἁμαδρυάδες) are Greek mythological beings that live in trees. They are a specific species of dryad, which are a particular type of nymph. Hamadryads are born bonded to a specific tree. Some believe that hamadryads are the actual tree, while normal dryads are simply the entity, or spirit, of the tree. If the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For that reason, dryads and the gods punished any mortals who harmed trees. The Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus lists eight Hamadryads, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas:
- Karya (Walnut or Hazelnut)
- Balanos (Oak)
- Kraneia (Dogwood)
- Morea (Mulberry)
- Aigeiros (Black Poplar)
- Ptelea (Elm)
- Ampelos (Vines, especially Vitis)
- Syke (fig)
Their mother, Hamadryas, is immortalized in the name of both the genus that contains the Cracker butterfly and the northernmost monkey in Asia Minor, the Hamadryas baboon. The Cracker Butterfly is more arboreal than most butterflies, as it commonly camouflages itself on trees. It feeds not on nectar but on sap, rotting fruit, and dung. The Hamadryas baboon however is one of the least arboreal monkeys but it was the most common monkey in Hellenic lands.
