In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Dynamene was a Nereid or sea-nymph

Nymph

A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...

, one of the 50 daughters of Nereus

Nereus

In Greek mythology, Nereus was the eldest son of Pontus and Gaia , a Titan who with Doris fathered the Nereids, with whom Nereus lived in the Aegean Sea. In the Iliad the Old Man of the Sea is the father of Nereids, though Nereus is not directly named...

 and Doris

Doris

- Geography :* Doris , region of Asia Minor inhabited by Dorians* Doris , region in central Greece in which the Dorians had their traditional homeland* Doris, Iowa, USA- People :* Doris, mother of Antipater...

. She, along with her sister Pherusa

Pherusa

Pherusa or Pherousa is the name of two different figures in Greek mythology.- Nereid :Pherusa was a Nereid, one of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris. Her name, a participle, means "she who carries." She, along with her sister Dynamene, were associated with the power of great ocean swells...

, was associated with the might and power of great ocean swells. She is mentioned in Hesiod

Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...

's Theogony

Theogony

The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC...

.

Popular culture

Dynamene is also the name of the beautiful widow in Christopher Fry

Christopher Fry

Christopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...

's 1946 comedy A Phoenix Too Frequent. After the premature death of her husband Virilius, Dynamene along with her maid Doto proposes to starve herself to death and follow him to Hades

Hades

Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...

. They are rudely interrupted from their purpose by the handsome Roman soldier Tegeus who is meant to be guarding six dead bodies outside. With Tegeus' charm and adoration Dynamene is able to save herself from an untimely fate.