Aegina
A river nymph abducted by Zeus and brought to the island that bears her name.
The Myth of Aegina
Aegina was a daughter of the river god Asopus, renowned for her beauty among the nymphs of the Greek waterways. Zeus, struck by her grace, carried her off to a deserted island in the Saronic Gulf. Asopus searched desperately for his daughter, and when the informer Sisyphus revealed the truth, the river god pursued Zeus himself. Zeus drove him back with thunderbolts, and to this day the river Asopus is said to carry charred coals in its bed from that encounter.
On the island, Aegina bore Zeus a son named Aeacus, who grew to become one of the most just men in all of Greece. The island, previously called Oenone, was renamed Aegina in her honour. But Aeacus found himself ruler of an empty land. He prayed to his father for companions, and Zeus transformed the island's ants into people — the Myrmidons, who would later follow Achilles to Troy. Aegina's legacy thus stretches from a lonely island to the battlefields of the Trojan War, all through the chain of her abduction and her son's prayers.
Parents
Asopus and Metope
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Metope
🌿 nymphrivers, motherhood
A river nymph, daughter of the river Ladon, who married the river god Asopus and bore him twenty daughters — many of whom were abducted by gods.
Arethusa
🌿 nymphNymph who became a freshwater spring
Arethusa was a nymph of Artemis who was pursued by the river god Alpheus and transformed into a freshwater spring on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse.
Rhode
🌿 nymphthe sea, islands
A sea nymph, daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite (or Aphrodite), who gave her name to the island of Rhodes.
Creusa
🌿 nymphsprings, motherhood
A Naiad nymph of Thessaly who bore Hypseus and Stilbe to the river god Peneus.
Antiope
🌿 nymphrivers, motherhood
A nymph or princess loved by Zeus, who bore the twins Amphion and Zethus, builders of Thebes' walls.
Stilbe
🌿 nymphrivers, light
A nymph of Thessaly, daughter of the river Peneus, who bore Centaurus and Lapithes to Apollo — thus originating both the Centaurs and the Lapiths.
Neso
🌿 nymphIslands, the sea between islands
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "island one," closely associated with the archipelagic waters of Greece
Asopus
⚡ godriver, justice
River god of the Asopus in Boeotia, father of many nymphs.
Halia
🌿 nymphthe sea, salt
A sea nymph of Rhodes who bore six sons and a daughter to Poseidon before throwing herself into the sea in grief.
Ladon River
🏛 placegeography
An Arcadian river whose nymph daughter Syrinx was transformed into river reeds, giving Pan his pipes.
Idaea
🌿 nymphmountains, springs
A nymph of Mount Ida in the Troad who became the second wife of the river god Scamander — or in other versions, of King Phineus.
Nesaea
🌿 nymphIslands, coastal dwelling
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "island dweller," associated with the islands of the Aegean