Nāiădes

, or Naides , certain inferior deities who presided over rivers, springs, wells, and fountains. The Naiades generally inhabited the country, and resorted to the woods or meadows near the stream over which they presided, whence the name ( ναιειν , to flow ). They are represented as young and beautiful virgins, often leaning upon an urn, from which flows a stream of water. Ægle was the fairest of the Naiades, according to Virgil. They were held in great veneration among the ancients, and often sacrifices of goats and lambs were offered to them, with libations of wine, honey, and oil. Sometimes they received only offerings of milk, fruit, and flowers. See: Nymphæ . Virgil , Eclogues .— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 14 , li. 328 .— Homer , Ody ey , bk. 13 .