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Oceanids

Literary Character
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

Collective sea nymphs in Greek myth, daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, representing the world’s rivers, springs, and flowing waters in poetic allegory.

Detailed Definition
The Oceanids, numbering in the thousands, appear in Hesiod and Aeschylus as personifications of fresh water and compassionate witnesses to Prometheus’s suffering. In poetry, they symbolize the nurturing and mysterious aspects of nature, the chorus of feminine voices in myth, and the fluid boundary between divine and mortal realms.
Example
Example in poetry:
Oceanids in Hesiod’s "Theogony" are sea-nymph daughters of Oceanus, personifying water’s flow; In Aeschylus’ "Prometheus Bound," they are compassionate chorus, giving collective voice; Later poets use Oceanids as symbols of fluidity and change; Their name evokes the feminine divine in natural poetry.
Additional Notes
Oceanids, sea nymphs in Greek myth, appear in Hesiod and Aeschylus as a chorus of sympathetic figures; their literary function as collective mourners or witnesses illustrates how choral groups can serve as emotional and moral commentators in poetic drama.
Also Known As
Oceanides
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