A dryad (; el|Δρυάδες, sing. Greek, Modern (1453-);: Δρυάς) is an oak tree nymph or oak tree spirit in Greek mythology; Drys (δρῦς) means "tree", and more specifically "oak" in Greek.[1] Today the term is ofter used to refer tree nymphs in general.[2]
See main article: Daphnaie. These were nymphs of the laurel trees.
See main article: Epimeliad. The Maliades, Meliades or Epimelides were nymphs of apple and other fruit trees and the protectors of sheep. The Greek word melas, from which their name derives, means both apple and sheep. The Hesperides, the guardians of the golden apples, were regarded as this type of dryad.
See main article: Hamadryad. Dryads, like all nymphs, were supernaturally long-lived and, like many, were tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the hamadryads, who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it also died. For these reasons, dryads and the Greek gods punished any mortal who harmed trees without first propitiating the tree-nymphs. (associated with Oak trees)
See main article: Meliae. The dryads of the ash tree were called the Meliae.[3] The Meliae sisters tended the infant Zeus in Rhea's Cretan cave. In Hesiod's Theogony, Gaia gave birth to the Meliae after being made fertile by the blood of the castrated Uranus.[4]
Some of the individual dryads or hamadryads are:
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