Halia
A sea nymph of Rhodes who bore six sons and a daughter to Poseidon before throwing herself into the sea in grief.
The Myth of Halia
Halia was a nymph of Rhodes, sister to the Telchines — those mysterious metalworkers and sorcerers who were among the island's first inhabitants. Poseidon fell in love with her, and she bore him six sons and a daughter, Rhode, for whom the island was eventually named.
The six sons grew to be arrogant and violent. When Aphrodite passed through Rhodes on her way from Cythera, they insulted her and refused her landing. The goddess of love cursed them with madness, and in their insanity they assaulted their own mother. Halia, in despair, threw herself into the sea. The Rhodians worshipped her thereafter as Leucothea — the 'white goddess' — a benevolent sea spirit who protected sailors. Her mad sons were driven underground by Poseidon and became the Eastern Demons of Rhodian folklore.
The story of Halia is really the story of Rhodes itself: a place where the ancient powers of sea and craft gave way to the Olympian order, not without violence and grief.
Parents
A Telchine sister
Symbols
Fun Fact
Halia's name comes from hals, the Greek word for sea or salt — the same root that gives us 'halogen' and 'halite' in modern chemistry.
Explore Further
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🌿 nymphthe sea, islands
A sea nymph, daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite (or Aphrodite), who gave her name to the island of Rhodes.
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Amphitrite
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Amphitrite was the Nereid who became queen of the sea as Poseidon's wife.
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🌿 nymphSea, salt water, brine
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "of the sea," one of the most simply named daughters of Nereus
Psamathe
🌿 nymphSand, sandy beaches, the sea floor
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "sand goddess," personifying the sandy shores and seabed
Beroe
🌿 nymphcities, the sea
A nymph born to Aphrodite and Adonis, whose hand in marriage was contested by Poseidon and Dionysus.
Periboea
🌿 nymphthe sea, giants
A Naiad or sea nymph who bore the giant Nausithous to Poseidon, becoming the ancestress of the Phaeacians.
Nereids
🌿 nymphFifty sea nymphs
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Nesaea
🌿 nymphIslands, coastal dwelling
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "island dweller," associated with the islands of the Aegean
Neso
🌿 nymphIslands, the sea between islands
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "island one," closely associated with the archipelagic waters of Greece
Cymothoe
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Nereid sea nymph whose name means "swift as the waves," one of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris
Agaue
🌿 nymphSplendour, nobility of the sea
Nereid sea nymph whose name means "the illustrious one," representing the noble majesty of the ocean