A dryad (/ˈdraɪ.æd/;
Greek: Δρυάδες, sing.: Δρυάς) is a
treenymph or tree spirit in
Greek mythology. Drys (δρῦς) signifies "
oak" in Greek. Dryads were originally considered the
nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved towards tree nymphs in general.[1] Often their life force was connected to the tree in which they resided and they were usually found in sacred groves of the gods.[2] They were considered to be very shy creatures except around the goddess
Artemis, who was known to be a friend to most nymphs.
The Maliades, Meliades or Epimelides were nymphs of apple and other fruit trees and the protectors of sheep. The Greek word melas, from which their name derives, means both apple and sheep.
Hesperides, the guardians of the golden apples were regarded as this type of dryad.
Dryads, like all
nymphs, were supernaturally long-lived and tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the
hamadryads who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it also died. For these reasons, dryads and the
Greek gods punished any mortal who harmed trees without first
propitiating the tree-nymphs. (associated with Oak trees)
The dryads of the
ash tree were called the
Meliae.[1] The Meliae sisters tended the infant
Zeus in
Rhea's
Cretan cave. Gaea gave birth to the Meliae after being made fertile by the blood of castrated
Uranus. The
Caryatids were associated with walnut trees.[1]
In
Lev Grossman's The Magicians Trilogy, the character Julia becomes a dryad after having had her shade removed during her rape at the hands of
Reynard the Fox. Her transformation accelerates when she visits Fillory in the company of the novel's other principals, and is complete when she and Quentin Coldwater visit Fillory's underworld.[10]
The fantasy novels of
Thomas Burnett Swann frequently feature dryads, along with other mythological creatures, usually endangered by the advent of more "advanced" civilisations. Swann's story "The Dryad-tree" is set in contemporary
Florida and features a woman's reaction to the knowledge that her new husband's garden contains a tree possessed by a jealous dryad. The story was adapted as a short film in 2017.[11]