Clymene
Oceanid nymph and mother of Phaethon and the Heliades.
The Myth of Clymene
Clymene was an Oceanid who became the consort of Helios, the sun god. When their son Phaethon doubted his divine parentage, Clymene sent him east to the palace of the Sun to learn the truth from Helios himself. This maternal encouragement led directly to Phaethon's fatal ride in the sun chariot. After his death, Clymene wandered the earth collecting his remains while her daughters, the Heliades, wept so long they turned into amber-dripping poplar trees.
Parents
Oceanus, Tethys
Children
Phaethon, Heliades
Symbols
Fun Fact
The ancient amber trade from the Baltic to the Mediterranean was mythologically explained as the tears of Clymene's daughters.
Explore Further
Thetis
🌿 nymphSea nymph mother of Achilles
Thetis was a sea nymph so powerful that both Zeus and Poseidon desired her — until a prophecy warned her son would surpass his father.
Perseis
🌿 nymphWitchcraft, sun
Oceanid nymph and mother of the sorceress Circe and King Aeetes of Colchis
Thetis
🌿 nymphSea nymph whose son's fate drove the Iliad
Thetis was the Nereid whose son was destined to surpass his father — a prophecy so threatening that Zeus and Poseidon married her off to a mortal.
Clytia
🌿 nymphFame, sunlight
Oceanid nymph who pined for Helios and was transformed into the heliotrope flower
Idyia
🌿 nymphKnowledge, Colchis
Oceanid nymph known as the knowing one and queen of Colchis beside King Aeetes
Rhode
🌿 nymphthe sea, islands
A sea nymph, daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite (or Aphrodite), who gave her name to the island of Rhodes.
Autonoe
🌿 nymphnature, grief
A Nereid and, in separate traditions, a daughter of Cadmus who witnessed the death of her son Actaeon.
Perse
🌿 nymphthe sea, sorcery
An Oceanid nymph who married the sun god Helios and bore him Circe, Pasiphae, and Aeetes — a family of legendary sorcerers.
Amphitrite
🌿 nymphQueen of the sea
Amphitrite was the Nereid who became queen of the sea as Poseidon's wife.
Thoosa
🌿 nymphsea, swiftness
Sea nymph and mother of the Cyclops Polyphemus.
Electra
🌿 nymphclouds, rain, rainbows
An Oceanid nymph, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, who married the sea god Thaumas and bore Iris the rainbow goddess and the Harpies.
Agaue
🌿 nymphSplendour, nobility of the sea
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "the illustrious one," representing the noble majesty of the ocean