Water Deities

A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean was more important.


Water Deities

Aztec
      Atl god of water in Aztec mythology (Central Mexico)

      Atlaua god of fishermen in Aztec mythology

      Chalchiuhtlatonal god of water in Aztec mythology

Balkan
      Rodon god of the sea in Illyrian mythology (Balkans)


Britain
     Dylan Eil Ton sea god in Welsh mythology (pre-Christian Britons)

     Arnemetia water goddess in British mythology

     Manannán mac Lir (Irish)

     Manawydan (Welsh)

     Llyr (Welsh)


German folklore/Scandinavian folklore
     Nix


Greek
     Anapos (water god of eastern Sicily in Greek mythology)

     Asopus river god in Greek mythology, and father to river nymph Aegina

     Crinaeae (fountains)

     Doris goddess of the Mediterranean Sea, wife of Nereus and mother of the Nereids in Greek mythology

     Eleionomae (marshes)

     Helead (fen)

     Hydros god of freshwater in Greek mythology

     Limnades/Limnatides (lakes)

     Naiads (usually fresh water)

Neptune/ Poseidon
god of the sea in

 


     Nereids (daughters of Nereus, the Mediterranean Sea)

     Nereus god of the Mediterranean Sea, shape-shifter, fortune-teller, and son of Gaia and Pontus in Greek mythology

     Oceanus and Tethys

       Oceanids (daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, any water but usually salt water)

     Pegaeae (springs)

     Phorcys (Phorkys), son of Pontus and Gaia

     Poseidon (Greek) and Neptune (Roman)

     Proteus early sea god in Greek mythology, he may be either a son of Poseidon, or of Oceanus and a Naiad

     Pontus pre-Olympian sea god in Greek mythology, and son of Gaia (earth) and Aether (air)

     Potameides (rivers)

     Trition god of the sea and messenger of the deep in Greek mythology, son of Poseidon and Amphrite, and though to be a merman


Hindu
     Saraswati goddess of knowledge in Hinduism, originally a river goddess (the Saraswati River was named after her)

Irish
     Manannán mac Lir sea and weather god in Irish mythology

     Boann goddess of the River Boyne in Irish mythology


Inuit
     Aipaloovik

     Alignak god of tides in Inuit mythology (Siberia, Greenland and Alaska)

     Arnapkapfaaluk

     Idliragijenget

     Sedna         

     Tootega goddess that walked on water in Inuit mythology


Italy
     Nethuns god of wells in Etruscan mythology (Italy)


Lithuanian mythology
     Bangputys


Maori mythology
     Tangaroa


Native America
     Untunktahe water god with great magical powers in Native America (Lakota) mythology


Norse
     Rán, goddess who collects the drowned in a net

     Njórd, seagod who lives at Nóatun


Portugal
     Duberdicus god of water in Lusitanian mythology (Portugal)


Shinto
     Susanoo


Sumeria
     Enki god of the freshwater ocean of groundwater under the earth in Sumerian mythology (also referred to as Ea)

     Abzu - water lord in Sumerian mythology that threatens to take back the creation of men by a universal flood, but is         imprisoned beneath the earth by Enki (Mesopotamia)

     Ninhursag - goddess of the waters and consort of Enki in Sumerian mythology


Tonga (Zambizi Valley Zimbabwe)
     Nyami Nyami


Vedic religion
     Varuna (celestial ocean)

Various rivers associated with goddesses in the Rigveda, such as Sarasvati (Sarasvati River) and Yamuna


Yoruba religion/Afro-American religions
     Yemaja
     Mami Wata


River Gods


     Achelous,   Acheron,    Aeas,  Aegaeus, Aesepus, Almo, Alpheus, Amphrysos, Apidanus, Ardescus, Asopus, Asterion, Axius

     Caicus,  Cayster, Cebren, Cephissus, Chremetes, Cladeus or Kladeos, Clitunno (Roman mythology), Cocytus, Cratais

     Crinisus, Cydnos

     Enipeus, Erasinus, Eridanus, Euphrates, Evenus

     Granicus

     Haliacmon, Heptaporus, Hermus

     Inachus, Istrus or Ister

     Ladon

     Meander, Mincius

     Nessus, Nilus, Numicius, Nymphaeus

     Pactolus, Parthenius, Phasis, Peneus

     Rhesus, Rhine, Rhodius,

     Sangarius, Scamander, Simoeis, Sperchius, Strymon

     Termessus, Tiberinus (Roman mythology)


Chiron
in Greek mythology, one of the Centaurs, the son of the Titan Cronus and Philyra, an Oceanid or sea nymph. Chiron lived at the foot of Mount Pelion in Thessaly.

Hyades
in Greek mythology, daughters of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Aethra, the five (or more) sisters of the Pleiades who nursed the infant wine god, Dionysus,...

Nymph
in Greek mythology, any of a large class of inferior female divinities. The nymphs were usually associated with fertile, growing things, such as trees, or with water.

Pleiades
in Greek mythology, the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Pleione: Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno, Alcyone, Sterope, and Merope.

Nereus
In Greek religion, sea god called by Homer “Old Man of the Sea,” noted for his wisdom, gift of prophecy, and ability to change his shape.

Atlas
in Greek mythology, son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene (or Asia) and brother of Prometheus (creator of mankind). In Homer's Odyssey, Book I, Atlas seems to have been a marine creature.

Io
in Greek mythology, daughter of Inachus (the river god of Argos) and the Oceanid Melia. Under the name of Callithyia, Io was regarded as the first priestess of Hera, the wife of Zeus.

They were not immortal but were extremely long-lived and were on the whole kindly disposed toward men. They were distinguished according to the sphere of nature with which they were connected. The Oceanids, for example, were sea nymphs; the Nereids inhabited both saltwater and freshwater; the Naiads presided over springs, rivers, and lakes

 


Water Sorcery   Atlantis      Mermaids     Nereids     Oceanids     Undines   
 
Water Deities     Water Sprites

Water Goddesses

Site Index