Pleione
Oceanid nymph and mother of the seven Pleiades star-cluster daughters
The Myth of Pleione
Pleione was a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys who became the consort of the Titan Atlas. Together they bore the seven Pleiades — Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, and Merope — as well as the Hyades and Calypso according to some accounts. When the hunter Orion pursued Pleione and her daughters across Boeotia for seven years, Zeus took pity and placed them all among the stars as the Pleiades cluster, where they remain visible in the night sky to this day.
Parents
Oceanus and Tethys
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Pleiades star cluster is named after Pleione's daughters and has guided sailors since antiquity
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
Pleiades
🌿 nymphSeven sisters transformed into stars
The Pleiades were seven sisters, daughters of Atlas and Pleione, who were placed among the stars as the star cluster that has guided sailors and farmers for millennia.
Phaeo
🌿 nymphStars, nursing
One of the Hyades nymphs who nursed the infant Dionysus and was later placed among the stars
Hyades
🌿 nymphRain-bringing star nymphs
The Hyades were nymphs who nursed the infant Dionysus and were placed among the stars as a cluster whose rising brought the autumn rains.
Constellation Pleiades
💭 conceptastronomy, nymph
The seven daughters of Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione, pursued by Orion and transformed into a star cluster that has guided sailors and farmers for millennia.
Sterope
🌿 nymphstars, lightning
A Pleiad, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, whose name means "lightning face" and who bore Oenomaus to the war god Ares.
Callisto
🌿 nymphNymph transformed into the Great Bear
Callisto was a companion of Artemis who was seduced by Zeus and transformed into a bear — placed in the sky as Ursa Major, the Great Bear constellation.
Phyto
🌿 nymphStars, nature
One of the Hyades nymphs whose name means growth or planting, connected to the agricultural significance of the star cluster
Maia
🌿 nymphMother of Hermes, eldest Pleiad
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.
Asia
🌿 nymphLand, territory
Oceanid nymph whose name was given to the continent of Asia
Merope
🌿 nymphstars, shame
The Pleiad who married a mortal and whose star shines faintest in the cluster, dimmed by shame at her choice.
Clymene
🌿 nymphfame, ocean
Oceanid nymph and mother of Phaethon and the Heliades.
Polyxo
🌿 nymphStars, nursing
One of the Hyades nymphs and nurse of Dionysus, transformed into a star for her devoted care of the god