Dionysos, grandson of
Poseidon, travelled "through all the known world, even into the remotest
parts of India, instructing the people, as he proceeded, how to tend the
vine, and how to practise many other arts of peace, besides teaching
them the value of just and honorable dealings." (Murray's "Mythology,"
p. 119.) The Greeks celebrated great festivals in his honor down to the
coming of Christianity.
"The Nymphs of Grecian mythology were a kind of middle beings between
the gods and men, communicating with both, loved and respected by both;
. . . living like the gods on ambrosia. In extraordinary cases they were
summoned, it was believed, to the councils of the Olympian gods; but
they usually remained in their particular spheres, in secluded grottoes
and peaceful valleys, occupied in spinning, weaving, bathing, singing
sweet songs, dancing, sporting, or accompanying deities who passed
through their territories--hunting with Artemis (Diana), rushing about
with Dionysos (Bacchus), making merry with Apollo or Hermes (Mercury),
but always in a hostile attitude toward the wanton and excited Satyrs."
The Nymphs were plainly the female inhabitants of Atlantis dwelling on
the plains, while the aristocracy lived on the higher lands.
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