Maia
Maia was the eldest and most beautiful of the seven Pleiades, a shy mountain nymph who bore Hermes to Zeus in a secret cave on Mount Cyllene.
The Myth of Maia
Maia, eldest of the Pleiades and daughter of Atlas, bore Hermes to Zeus in a secret cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. On the day of his birth, Hermes stole Apollo's sacred cattle and invented the lyre from a tortoise shell — a feat that delighted Zeus and won Apollo's friendship rather than punishment. Maia raised the young god quietly, away from Hera's jealousy. She later nursed the infant Arcas, son of Zeus and Callisto, after Artemis slew Callisto for breaking her vow. Maia was the shyest of the Pleiades, avoiding the company of gods, yet she mothered the most sociable of all Olympians — Hermes the messenger, thief, and guide of souls to Hades.
Parents
Atlas and Pleione
Symbols
Fun Fact
The month of May is named after Maia — the shy mountain nymph who wanted only to be left alone gave her name to one of the year's brightest months.
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
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.
Aegle
🌿 nymphlight, healing
A nymph whose name means "radiance" — identified variously as a Hesperid, a daughter of Asclepius, or the most beautiful of the Naiads.
Penelope
🌿 nymphnature, pastoral
A mountain nymph of Arcadia who, in one tradition, was the mother of Pan by Hermes — distinct from Odysseus's famous wife.
Sinope
🌿 nymphcleverness, virginity
A nymph who outwitted Zeus, Apollo, and the river god Halys by making each promise her virginity as a gift before granting her favours — then holding them to it.
Pleione
🌿 nymphSea, sailing, flocks
Oceanid nymph and mother of the seven Pleiades star-cluster daughters
Phaeo
🌿 nymphStars, nursing
One of the Hyades nymphs who nursed the infant Dionysus and was later placed among the stars
Calypso
🌿 nymphNymph who concealed Odysseus
Calypso kept Odysseus seven years. Her name means "she who conceals."
Idyia
🌿 nymphKnowledge, Colchis
Oceanid nymph known as the knowing one and queen of Colchis beside King Aeetes
Neda
🌿 nymphRivers, nurture, Arcadia
Oceanid nymph of the River Neda in Arcadia who helped nurse the infant Zeus
Perseis
🌿 nymphWitchcraft, sun
Oceanid nymph and mother of the sorceress Circe and King Aeetes of Colchis
Oreads
🌿 nymphmountains, wilderness
Mountain nymphs classified among the broader family of nature spirits, dwelling on peaks and in highland caves as attendants of Artemis.
Meliboea
🌿 nymphnature, grief
A nymph (or mortal woman) who survived the massacre of Niobe's children and was preserved by her extreme pallor of terror.