Water and Myth

Water Deities

Water mythological characters are numerous. Here are just a few, portrayed  by Pre-Raphaelite painters.

Sirens and Mermaids - Sereias

A mermaid (from the Middle English 'mere' in the obsolete sense 'sea' (as in maritime, the Latin mare, "sea") + maid (en) is a legendary aquatic creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish. The male version of a mermaid is called a merman; gender-neutral plurals could be merpeople or merfolk. Various cultures throughout the world have similar figures.

Nereids -  The nymphs of the sea - Nereidas

Perseus and the Nereids, Edward Burne-Jones

Nymphs - Ninfas

Female deities of fresh water, whether of rivers, lakes, brooks, or wells

Hylas and the Nymphs, John Waterhouse

Hylas and the Nymphs originates from Greek myth. As the legend goes King Hylas was on an expedition when he decided to go ashore to get some water. When he reached into a spring to retrieve it he was carried off by water nymphs, never to be seen again.

Echo and Narcissus, Sir John W. Waterhouse

Punished by a goddess for her constant chatter, Echo was confined to repeating the words of others. Enamoured of Narcissus, the son of the river god Cephisus and the nymph Liriope, she tried to win his love using fragments of his own speech but he spurned her attentions. Passing by a stream, the beautiful youth caught a glimpse of his reflection is a stream and became transfixed by the lovely image. Believing it to be the form of a nymph, he vainly courted the watery mirage and wasted away through unrequited love. He was transformed into the flower that bears his name and Echo pined away until nothing but her voice remained.

Nymphs Finding The Head of Orpheus, Sir John W. Waterhouse

Naiads - Naiades

Fresh water nymphs

A Naiad, John William Waterhouse

In Greek mythology, the Naiads were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks.

Undine - Ondina

Undine, John William Waterhouse

Also spelt Ondine. Undine is a mythological figure of European tradition, a water nymph who becomes human when she falls in love with a man but is doomed to die if he is unfaithful to her.

Danaides 

The fifty daughters of Danaüs, King of Argos, were commanded in obedience to a prophecy to murder their husbands on their wedding night; all but one obeyed, and were punished by having to draw water in sieves from a deep well, or by pouring it endlessly into a vessel from which it continually escaped.

Note: All paintings by Sir John William Waterhouse, except for 'Perseus and the Nereids', by Edward-Burne Jones.