The Nymphs were beautiful female divinities of nature. The nymphs who inhabited the mountains were known a Oreads, the nymphs who were associated with the rivers, brooks and springs were the Naiads, the wood nymphs were the Dryads and the tree nymphs were the Hamadryads.

One of the most famous of the nymphs was Echo. It is said that as an attendant of the gods she kept Hera busy listening to her idle chatter while Zeus was carrying on his various affairs with other nymphs. Hera eventually discovered Echo's little ruse, and turned on the unfortunate nymph. Hera punished Echo by declaring that from that point onwards, she would never speak again except to repeat the sounds that she heard. Sometime later Echo saw the beautiful youth Narcissus and fell deeply in love with him, but, of course, she could not speak to him unless she was spoken to. Finally one day in the forest Narcissus called out, "Is anyone there?" and Echo answered, "Here". As Narcissus could see no one, he called out again, "Come" and Echo responded "Come". Narcissus called out, "Why do you shun me?" and Echo answered with the same reply. Very confused about what Narcissus had just heard, he called out again, "Let us meet here" and Echo repeated the words, emerged from the woods and was prepared to throw her arms around Narcissus. Narcissus repelled by her boldness, rejected her instantly, and fled. From that day on, Echo hid her shame in the woods and in the caves, wasting away until nothing was left, except her voice. Narcissus, however, was punished for scorning the love of the maiden. One day Narcissus happened to see his own reflection in a clear pool and became so enamoured of it, that he could not leave it, Narcissus pined away and eventually became a flower which bears his name.

Another group of creatures was the Satyrs, whose upper bodies were those of men, but whose legs were those of small goats, shaggy with hoofs. Two small horns could be seen on their heads, and they all had curly hair. The satyrs were rural creatures associated with the fields and woods and pictured as sporting with the nymphs, or joining with them in the orgies associated with Dionysus.

The leader of the satyrs was Pan, son of Hermes by one of the nymphs. Pan was the god of the countryside, the patron of shepherds and goatherds and the companion or lover of many nymphs. He was a wonderful musician, being particularly skilled on the reed pipes (Pan Pipes). Looked upon as one of the later gods, his fame and worship spread widely to the point where Pan, whose name means "all", was thought of as a primitive force in all nature.

The Centaurs had the face and chest of men and the four legs of horses. Unlike the satyrs they were a savage crew, supposedly the offspring of Centaurus (the son Ixion and a cloud) and the Magnesian Mares. The best known of the centaurs was Chiron, son of Cronus and Philyra, a nymph. Unlike most of his fellow centaurs, Chiron was kindly and upright, and to him, was entrusted the upbringing of Heracles, Jason, Actaeon, Aesculapius and Achilles. Chiron was noted for his skill in surgery. Heracles accidentally wounded him and his pain was so great that he was raised to the heavens as the constellation Sagittarius. The centaurs were in time, overcome by their rivals, the Lapiths who were a primitive tribe of men who learned to build with stone. At Pirithoüs' (the king of the Lapithths and the son of Ixion and Dia) marriage to his bride Hippodamia (the daughter of the king of Argos), certain of the centaurs, who were invited as guests, became intoxicated and attempted to attack some of the women, wives and sisters of the famous heroes who were also present, and a dreadful conflict resulted in which many of the centaurs were killed.

The Sileni were also half horses and half men, but they differed from the centaurs in that they walked on two legs rather than four.

The Sirens were maidens who lived on an island in the sea and by their singing lured to their death. The sirens endeavoured to trap the Argonauts with their song and later sought to enchant Odysseus on his voyage. According to some accounts, there were two sirens, Aglaiophemic ("clear-speaker") and Thelxiepeia ("magic-speaker"), but other accounts say there were three, one of whom was said to play the lyre, the second the pipes and the third to sing. Their names were given as Leukosia, Ligeia and Parthenope. In some later accounts they are pictured as having the bodies of women, but the underbody of feathers and the feet of birds. They are often referred as to as the daughter of the river god Achelous by one of The Muses, either Terpischore or Calliope. After their failure to attract the sailors of Odysseus, they are said to have thrown themselves into the sea and become rocks.

The Muses were nine in number, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, Memory. At first, like The Graces, they were not distinguished from each other.

"They were all of one mind, their hearts set upon song and their spirit is free from care. He is happy whom the Muses love. For though a man has sorrow and grief in his soul, yet when the servant of the Muses sings, at once he forgets his dark thoughts and remembers not his troubles. Such is the holy gift of the Muses to men".    [Hesiod]

	Calliope	Represented epic poetry, represented as holding a tightly rolled parchment
	Clio	Represented history, pictured with a half-opened roll
	Melpomene	Represented tragedy, pictured as veiled and carrying a tragic mask
	Thalia	Represented comedy, pictured holding a comedy mask
	Euterpe	Represented music and lyric poetry, represented by two flutes
	Erato	Represented love poetry and marriage feasts
	Terpsichore	Represented dance
	Urania	Represented astronomy, usually shown holding a globe and a rod
	Polyhymnia	Represented the hymns that were sacred to the gods