Among all the characters in ancient Greek myths, the most numerous are nymphs - deities who personify various natural objects and phenomena. It is perhaps impossible to establish their exact number; suffice it to say that only the so-called oceanids, nymphs responsible for the movement of waters, number about three thousand. Nymphs are divided into many types, most often, depending on their habitat - forest, river, mountain, etc. In addition, there are nymphs whose activities are associated only with natural phenomena and are not tied to a specific area. So, in the beliefs of the ancient Hellenes, there are nymphs of wind, thunderstorms or rain. The latter are called "hyads"; through their efforts, rain streams are poured onto the earth, allowing people to grow new crops.
The origin of the term "giada" can be called obvious - in ancient Greek the word "Ὑάδες" means "rain". So, according to the treatises of ancient philosophers, they called the patrons of the rain, the daughters of the titan Atlanta and the oceanids Pleion. At the same time, different authors indicate a different number of giads, from two to twelve. The poet and philosopher Hesiod, who lived in the eighth-seventh centuries BC, in the poem "Astronomy" talks about the five daughters of Atlant, listing them by name. Ferekid, another thinker of Ancient Greece, relied on the number seven in his works. It is worth noting that it was this ancient mythographer who left behind almost the most detailed information about the worldview of the ancient Greeks.
According to him, the giads took part in the education of the youngest of the Olympic gods, Dionysus, the god of winemaking, theater and religious ecstasy. Also, in the writings of Ferekides, there are references to the close relationship of the giads with another famous figure of the ancient Greek pantheon - the nymph Calypso, who lived on the island of Ogygia. How real this island is is anyone's guess; although it is mentioned in several ancient writings, its location was never established. Like almost all nymphs, hyads look like forever young beautiful girls who do not seek to hide their beauty under clothes.
The Hyades are the sisters of the Pleiad nymphs, originally the companions of the goddess Artemis, the patroness of all life on earth. Subsequently, the Pleiades were transformed by the god Zeus into stars (constellation Pleiades), and from then on they began to be perceived as celestial nymphs. In addition, the giads also had their beloved brother Gias (sometimes, Giant). Despite the divine origin of Gias, his name is rarely mentioned in myths, mainly when describing the more famous sisters. It is known that he died while hunting in Libya, becoming a victim of an attack by a huge lion (in other sources, he died from a snakebite).
The Hyades star cluster.
The Hyades were so shocked by the death of their only brother and so bitterly mourned his fate that, in the end, they were heard by Zeus. The powerful god, apparently considering his experience with the Pleiades successful, lifted the nymphs into the sky and turned them into a star cluster (or asterism), known to modern astronomers as Hyades. It can be seen from Earth with the naked eye; the appearance of the Hyades cluster in the sky marks the beginning of the rainy season in Greece and in the territories of countries close to it. Legends say that rain is nothing more than the tears of nymphs who have gone forever into the depths of the universe, grieving for their dead brother.