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...

, Nicaea was a 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;...

 ("the Astakid nymph", as referred to by Nonnus

Nonnus

Nonnus of Panopolis , was a Greek epic poet. He was a native of Panopolis in the Egyptian Thebaid, and probably lived at the end of the 4th or early 5th century....

), the daughter of the river-god Sangarius

Sangarius (mythology)

Sangarius is a Phrygian river-god of Greek mythology. He is described as the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and as the husband of Metope, by whom he became the father of Hecuba. He is also the father of Nana and therefore the grandfather of Attis...

 and Cybele

Cybele

Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...

. She was beloved by a shepherd, Hymnus, and killed him, but Eros

Eros

Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....

 took vengeance upon her, and Dionysus

Dionysus

Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...

, who first intoxicated her, made her mother of Telete

Telete

In Greek mythology, Telete was the daughter of Dionysus and Nicaea.Concerning Telete's birth, it is related that Nicaea was ashamed of having been made pregnant by Dionysus, and even attempted to hang herself; nevertheless, in due time a daughter was born to her. The Horae were said to have served...

, whereupon she attempted to hang herself; yet she did live to see Aura

Aura (mythology)

In Greek and Roman mythology, Aura is the divine personification of the breeze. The plural form, Aurae, "Breezes," is often found.The velificatio, a billowing garment that forms an arch overhead, is the primary attribute by which an Aura can be identified in art...

, another nymph seduced by Dionysus, getting into labor and giving birth to Iacchus

Iacchus

In Greek mythology, Iacchus is an epithet of Dionysus, particularly associated with the Mysteries at Eleusis, where he was considered to be the son of Zeus and Demeter...

. Dionysus called the town of Nicaea after her.