Creusa (Naiad) Explained

In Greek mythology, Creusa (; Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Κρέουσα Kreousa "princess") was a Thessalian naiad nymph and daughter of Gaia (Earth).^[1]

Family

Creusa bore Hypseus, the future king of the Lapiths, and Stilbe to the river god Peneus.^[2] Through Hypseus, she was the grandmother of Cyrene, one of the best known lovers of Apollo while her daughter, Stilbe, gave birth to twin sons to the same god. These sons were Lapithes and Centaurus progenitors of the warrior tribe, Lapiths and the wild half-beasts, Centaurs.

In another version of the myth, Creusa was called the daughter of Peneus and Naïs.^[3] According to Pherecydes, the latter was also the reputed mother of Hypseus by the same river god.^[4] In one account, the mother of the Lapith king was called Philyra.^[5]

Mythology

Pindar's Account

“...in the renowned glens of Mt. Pindus a Naiad bore him (Hypseus), Creusa the daughter of Gaia, delighting in the bed of the river-god Peneius.”

Diodorus Siculus' Account

“He (Peneus) lay with the nymph named Creüsa and begat as children Hypseus and Stilbê, and with the latter Apollo lay and begat Lapithes and Centaurus.”

Notes

1. [Pindar]
2. Pindar, Pythian Ode 9.16. Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990; Diodorus Siculus, 4.69.1
3. [Scholia]
4. Scholia ad Pindar, Pythian Ode 9.27b with Pherecydes as the authority
5. Scholia ad Pindar, Pythian Ode 9.27b with Achesandros as the authority

References

• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
• Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, Odes translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.