Nyctelius (Nycte′lius). A name given to Bacchus, because his festivals were celebrated by torchlight.
Nymphs. This was a general name for a class of inferior female deities who were attendants of the gods. Some of them presided over springs, fountains, wells, woods, and the sea. They are spoken of as land-nymphs or Naiads, and sea-nymphs or Nereids, though the former are associated also with fountains and rivers. The Dryads were forest-nymphs, and the Hamadryads were nymphs who lived among the oak-trees—the oak being always specially venerated by the ancients. The mountain-nymphs were called Oreads.
“With flower-inwoven tresses torn,
The nymphs in twilight shade
Of tangled thickets mourn.”
Milton.
Nysae (Ny′sae). The names of the nymphs by whom Bacchus was nursed. See Dionysius.
Nysaeus (Ny′saeus). A name of Bacchus, because he was worshiped at Nysa, a town of Aethiopia.
Nysus (Ny′sus). A king of Megara who was invisible by virtue of a particular lock of hair. This lock his daughter Scylla cut off, and so betrayed her father to his enemies. She was changed into a lark, and the king into a hawk, and he still pursues his daughter, intending to punish her for her treachery.
Oannes (Oan′nes). An Eastern (Babylonian) god, represented as a monster, half-man, half-fish. He was said to have taught men the use of letters in the day-time, and at night to have retired to the depth of the ocean.
Oath, see Lapis.
Obambou (Obam′bou). A devil of African mythology.
Ocean, see Neptune.