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Ida

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A nymph of Mount Ida who, with Adrasteia, secretly nursed the infant Zeus to protect him from his father Cronus.

Detailed Definition
Ida, along with her sister Adrasteia, cared for Zeus in a Cretan cave, using cymbals to mask his cries from Cronus. She is associated with Mount Ida in Crete. Poets invoke her as a nurturing force in divine infancy, representing the hidden origins of power and the protective role of nature.
Example
Example in poetry:
Mount Ida, sacred to Cybele and Rhea, shelters infant Zeus in Hesiod’s Theogony; In Virgil’s Aeneid, Ida provides timber for Trojan ships; Ovid describes Ida as a refuge in Metamorphoses; Homer references Ida as a vantage point for gods in the Iliad; Renaissance pastoral poetry uses Ida as a symbol of divine nature; Modern ecological verse invokes Ida as a mythic wilderness.
Additional Notes
Ida refers either to Mount Ida (in Crete, where Zeus was raised, or in Troy, site of key Iliad scenes) or to the nymph Ida who nursed Zeus; both contexts evoke sanctuary, revelation (e.g., Paris’ judgment), or divine infancy—essential for geographical and symbolic grounding in epic poetry.
Also Known As
Mountain Nymph Nurse of Zeus Ida of Crete
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