Nympholepsy

Nympholepsy was the belief of the ancient Greeks that individuals could be possessed by the nymphs. Individuals who considered themselves nympholepts would display a great religious devotion to the nymphs. An example is Archedemos of Thera, who built the sanctuary of the nymphs in the Vari Cave northeast of Attica, Greece.

Nympholepsy, a term first used in 1775 by Richard Chandler in Travels in Greece, is described as “frenzy or rapture [that was] supposed to take hold of a man upon gazing on a nymph”. It originates from the Greek word nymphe, meaning “bride”, “beautiful young woman”, then “semi-divine being in the form of a beautiful maiden”, and epilepsy, from the Greek word epilepsis, meaning “a seizure”. Though the root of nympholepsy implies a fit or seizure, according to the writings of Socrates and Plato, a person could experience nympholepsy without any “tearing of clothes, the biting of lips, or convulsions, or frenzies”. Plato implies in his writings that nympholepsy showed itself in others by “heightened awareness and eloquence”. Ancient Greece also had the word nymphleptos, meaning “caught by nymphs”.

Nymphs were known as female spirits of the natural world, and were minor goddesses of various aspects in nature - forests, rivers, springs, meadows, mountains and seas. They were often depicted as beautiful young women with attributes symbolizing whatever natural formation they ruled over.

Nymphs are most often described as either the daughters of Zeus, the river Oceanus, or Gaia, though various other gods and goddesses have been attributed to their parentage over the years. Many gods are also described as having various nymph companions; for example, Artemis is known for her band of huntress nymphs, Poseidon is often accompanied by sea nymphs called Nereides, and nymph handmaidens were common companions to the goddesses of Olympos. Some elder nymphs, such as those of the Okeanides and Nereides class, were known as immortal goddesses, but most nymphs had a finite, though very long, lifespan.

...
Wikipedia