Les nymphes ravisseuses. Récits d’enlèvement et d’intégration en Grèce ancienne

This paper re-evaluates the meaning of abduction by nymphs in Greek myths, by taking into account the myths of Calypso in the Odyssey, Hylas kidnapped by Mysian nymphs and Salmakis in Halicarnassos. A thorough analysis of ancient sources shows that this Leitmotif is the extreme declination of a specific competence of nymphs, the power of rooting individuals and communities in a certain place. From this perspective, nymphs – far from being deities ‘of wild nature’ – are in charge of the symbolic dimension of ‘dwelling’, because they create a link between mortals and the place they inhabit.