Abstract
Hesiod's Theogony presents the birth of the Nymphs into the cosmos as Melian Nymphs (" of the ash trees "), following the castration of Ouranos by Kronos. This crime brings into the world a myriad of ambivalent entities and evils, including old age and death, which are the prerogative of humans. These Melian Nymphs could therefore not only be entities linked to warfare, through the spears made of ash wood, but also figures associated with the emergence of the first humans, thus evoked by the poet. In ways other than those sketched out by the Homeric epic, the Nymphs once appear as superhuman entities of the in-between. As for the cults reserved for them, Athenian examples from the classical period, both public and private, show local Nymphs within groups of divine recipients with extensive courotrophic functions. Added to this was their ability to integrate foreign elements into their territory, such as the " nympholepte " Archedamos de Théra, who created the famous Vari grotto in the Hymette massif. Both human numphai and divine nymphs are bearers of the hopes of a human group and providers of life. In various ways, they are figures of transition and integration.
