Castalia

Castalia /kəˈsteɪliə/ (Ancient Greek: Κασταλία, romanized: Kastalia), in ancient Greek and Roman mythology, is a young nymph, a daughter of the river-god Achelous who attracted the god Apollo and who is said to have flung herself into the sacred spring in Delphi when pursued by him. The spring took the name Castalia afterwards.

## Contents

* 1 Family
* 2 Mythology
* 3 In culture
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Bibliography
* 7 External links

## Family

Castalia was the child of the river-god Achelous.[1]

## Mythology

The Castalia or Castalian Spring was the name of a spring near Delphi, sacred to the Muses, mentioned by many authors.[2] According to old traditions, the Castalian Spring already existed by the time Apollo came to Delphi searching for Python.[3] According to some, the water was a gift to Castalia from the river Cephisus.[citation needed]

In his commentary on Statius's Thebaid, Latin poet Lactantius Placidus says that the virgin Castalia, trying to escape Apollo's unwanted amorous advances, threw herself into a fountain at Delphi, at the base of Mount Parnassus, or at Mount Helicon, which took her name thereafter.[4][5][6] Castalia then became the sacred fountain of Poseidon.[7]

## In culture

She inspired the genius of poetry to those who drank her waters or listened to their quiet sound; the sacred water was also used to clean the Delphian temples. Apollo consecrated Castalia to the Muses (Castaliae Musae).[citation needed]

The 20th-century German writer Hermann Hesse used Castalia as inspiration for the name of the futuristic fictional utopia in his 1943 magnum opus The Glass Bead Game. Castalia is home to an austere order of intellectuals with a twofold mission: to run boarding schools for boys, and to nurture and play the Glass Bead Game.[citation needed]

## See also

* Castalian Spring
* Castalia House
* 4769 Castalia, an Earth-crossing asteroid
* 646 Kastalia, an asteroid

## References

1. ↑ Pausanias (1918). "Phocis and Ozolian Locri 10.8.9". Description of Greece. Harvard University Press. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=10:chapter=8:section=9. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
2. ↑ The spring is mentioned in Herodotus, 8.39; Pindar, Pyth. 1.39; Virgil, Georgics 3.293; Horace, Odes 3.4.61; Statius, Thebaid 1.698 and elsewhere: see Liddell, Scott, Jones Greek Lexicon s.v. Κασταλία; Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary, s.v. Castalia.
3. ↑ Homer, Hymn to Apollo
4. ↑ Smith, W. (1858). Classical Dictionary, s.v. Castalia.
5. ↑ "Castalia". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/98355/Castalia.
6. ↑ Lactantius Placidus (1898) (in la). Lactantii Placidi qvi dicitvr Commentarios in Statii Thebaida it Commentarivm in Achilleida recensvit Ricardvs Jahnke. Lipsiae : in aedibvs B. G. Tevbneri. 1.698 (p 71). https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_fYj9nL6HlREC/page/70/mode/2up?view=theater.
7. ↑ Hamilton 1978, p. 25.

## Bibliography

* Hamilton, Edith (1978) (in fr). La Mythologie – ses dieux, ses héros, ses légendes. Marabout Editions. ISBN 978-2-501-00264-6.

## External links

* CASTALIA from The Theoi Project

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Ancient Greek deities by affiliation

Primordial
deities|

* Achlys
* Aether
* Aion/Chronos
* Ananke
* Chaos
* Erebus
* Eros/Phanes
* Gaia
* Hemera
* Nyx
* The Ourea
* Pontus/Thalassa
* Tartarus
* Uranus
* Fates
* Atropos
* Clotho
* Lachesis

Titan
deities|

| Titanes (male)|

* Coeus
* Crius
* Cronus
* Hyperion
* Iapetus
* Oceanus

|

Titanides (female)|

* Dione
* Mnemosyne
* Phoebe
* Rhea
* Tethys
* Theia
* Themis

Children of Hyperion|

* Eos
* Helios
* Selene

Children of Coeus|

* Asteria
* Leto
* Lelantos

Children of Crius|

* Astraeus
* Pallas
* Perses

Children of Iapetus|

* Atlas
* Epimetheus
* Menoetius
* Prometheus

Olympian
deities|

| Dodekatheon|

* Aphrodite
* Apollo
* Ares
* Artemis
* Athena
* Demeter
* Dionysus
* Hephaestus
* Hera
* Hermes
* Hestia
* Poseidon
* Zeus

|

Theoi Olympioi|

* Asclepius
* Eileithyia
* Enyo
* Eris
* Iris
* Harmonia
* Hebe
* Heracles
* Paean
* Pan

Mousai (Muses)|

* Daughters of Zeus
* Calliope
* Clio
* Euterpe
* Erato
* Melpomene
* Polyhymnia
* Terpsichore
* Thalia
* Urania
* Daughters of Apollo
* Apollonis
* Borysthenis
* Cephisso
* Muses of the Lyre
* Hypate
* Mese
* Nete
* Muses at Sicyon
* Polymatheia

Charites (Graces)|

* Aglaea
* Antheia
* Euphrosyne
* Hegemone
* Pasithea
* Thalia

Horae (Hours)|

* Dike
* Eirene
* Eunomia

Children of Styx|

* Bia
* Kratos
* Nike
* Zelos

Aquatic
deities|

| Sea Gods|

* Amphitrite
* Benthesikyme
* Brizo
* Calypso
* Ceto
* Glaucus
* The Ichthyocentaurs
* Leucothea
* Melicertes
* Nereus
* Nerites
* The Nesoi
* Oceanus
* Phorcys
* Pontus/Thalassa
* Poseidon
* Proteus
* Rhodos
* Tethys
* Thaumas
* Thetis
* Triton

|

Oceanids|

* Acaste
* Admete
* Amalthea
* Asia
* Callirrhoe
* Ceto
* Clytie
* Dione
* Dodone
* Doris
* Electra
* Eurynome
* Idyia
* Melia (consort of Apollo)
* Melia (consort of Inachus)
* Metis
* Perse
* Pleione
* Plouto
* Styx
* Telesto
* Zeuxo

Nereides|

* Amphitrite
* Arethusa
* Dynamene
* Galatea
* Galene
* Psamathe
* Thetis

Potamoi|

* Achelous
* Almo
* Alpheus
* Anapos
* Asopus
* Asterion
* Axius
* Caanthus
* Cebren
* Cephissus
* Clitumnus
* Enipeus
* Kladeos
* Meander
* Nilus
* Numicus
* Phyllis
* Peneus
* Rivers of the Underworld
* Acheron
* Cocytus
* Eridanos
* Lethe
* Phlegethon
* Styx
* Sangarius
* Scamander
* Simoeis
* Strymon

Naiads|

* Aegina
* Achiroe
* Aganippe
* The Anigrides
* Argyra
* Bistonis
* Bolbe
* Caliadne
* Cassotis
* Castalia
* Cleocharia
* Creusa
* Daphne
* Drosera
* Harpina
* The Ionides
* Ismenis
* Larunda
* Lilaea
* Liriope
* Melite
* Metope
* Minthe
* Moria
* Nana
* Nicaea
* Orseis
* Pallas
* Pirene
* Salmacis
* Stilbe
* The Thriae
* Corycia
* Kleodora
* Melaina
* Tiasa

Chthonic
deities|

| Theoi Chthonioi|

* Angelos
* Gaia
* Hades
* Hecate
* The Lampads
* Macaria
* Melinoë
* Persephone
* Zagreus

|

Erinyes (Furies)|

* Alecto
* Megaera
* Tisiphone

Earthborn|

* Cyclopes
* Gigantes
* Hecatonchires
* Kouretes
* Meliae
* Telchines
* Typhon

Apotheothenai|

* Trophonius
* Triptolemus
* Orpheus
* Aeacus
* Minos
* Rhadamanthus

Personifications|

| Children of Nyx|

* Achlys
* Apate
* Dolos
* Eleos
* Elpis
* Epiphron
* Eris
* Geras
* Hesperides
* Hybris
* Hypnos
* Ker
* The Keres
* The Moirai
* Aisa
* Clotho
* Lachesis
* Momus
* Moros
* Nemesis
* Oizys
* The Oneiroi
* Philotes
* Sophrosyne
* Thanatos

|

Children of Eris|

* Algos
* Amphillogiai
* Ate
* The Androktasiai
* Dysnomia
* Horkos
* Hysminai
* Lethe
* Limos
* Machai
* Phonoi
* Ponos
* Neikea
* Pseudea
* Logoi

Children of other gods|

* Aergia
* Aidos
* Alala
* Aletheia
* Angelia
* Arete
* Astraea
* Caerus
* The Younger Charites
* Eucleia
* Eupheme
* Euthenia
* Philophrosyne
* Corus
* Deimos
* The Erotes
* Anteros
* Eros
* Hedylogos
* Hermaphroditus
* Hymen
* Ersa
* Eupraxia
* Hedone
* Homonoia
* Iacchus
* The Litae
* Homonoia
* Peitho
* Phobos
* Tyche

Others|

* Adephagia
* Alala
* Alke
* Amechania
* Anaideia
* Alastor
* Apheleia
* The Arae
* Dikaiosyne
* Dyssebeia
* Eiresione
* Ekecheiria
* Eulabeia
* Eusebeia
* Gelos
* Heimarmene
* Homados
* Horme
* Ioke
* Kakia
* Koalemos
* Kydoimos
* Lyssa
* The Maniae
* Methe
* Nomos
* Palioxis
* Peitharchia
* Penia
* Penthus
* Pepromene
* Pheme
* Phrike
* Phthonus
* Poine
* Polemos
* Poros
* Praxidike
* Proioxis
* Prophasis
* Soter
* Soteria
* Thrasos

Other deities|

| Sky deities|

* The Anemoi
* The Astra Planeti
* Stilbon
* Eosphorus
* Hesperus
* Pyroeis
* Phaethon
* Phaenon
* Aura
* Chione
* The Hesperides
* The Hyades
* Nephele
* The Pleiades
* Alcyone
* Sterope
* Celaeno
* Electra
* Maia
* Merope
* Taygete

|

Agricultural deities|

* Aphaea
* Demeter
* Despoina
* Eunostus
* Philomelus
* Plutus

Health deities|

* Asclepius
* Aceso
* Epione
* Iaso
* Hygieia
* Paean
* Panacea
* Telesphorus

Rustic deities|

* Aetna
* Agdistis
* The Alseids
* Amphictyonis
* The Anthousai
* Aristaeus
* Attis
* The Auloniads
* Britomartis
* The Cabeiri
* Comus
* The Dryades
* Erato
* The Hamadryades
* Chrysopeleia
* The Epimeliades
* Hecaterus
* Leuce
* Ma
* The Maenades
* The Meliae
* The Napaeae
* The Nymphai Hyperboreioi
* The Oreads
* Adrasteia
* Echo
* Helike
* Iynx
* Nomia
* Oenone
* Pitys
* The Pegasides
* Priapus
* Rhapso
* Silenus
* Telete

Others|

* Alexiares and Anicetus
* Aphroditus
* Enyalius
* Palaestra

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