Hyades

In Greek myth the Hyades are a group of sisters associated with the constellation Taurus and identified with a particular open star cluster. Classical lore treats them as daughters of Atlas (linked genealogically to other sister-groups such as the Pleiades) and as mythic kin who serve social functions in narrative—most notably as caretakers and escorts. The name Ὑάδες (Hyádes) is popularly etymologized from ὕω (hýō, 'I fall as rain') yielding the sense 'rain-makers' or 'the rainy ones'; an alternative etymology suggested in the sources connects the name to ὗς (hŷs, 'swine'), indicating etymological uncertainty in scholarship.

As mythic figures the Hyades are presented as a sisterhood (individual names such as Ambrosia are attested in the sources). Classical summaries identify them in narrative roles—nurses and escorts—rather than giving consistent anthropomorphic detail about clothing or stature. Astronomically they correspond to the Hyades open star cluster in Taurus; popular and scientific sky lore describe them as a nearby winter cluster in the constellation Taurus often discussed alongside the Pleiades and other Taurus features (e.g., Aldebaran). Thus they are represented both as mortal/immortal nymph-like sisters in myth and as identifiable stars in the night sky.

The primary attributed function in the provided material is meteorological association: the Hyades are popularly called 'rain-makers' or 'the rainy ones' because their rising and setting in the annual sky cycle were correlated with rainy seasons in Greek calendrical/meteorological lore. In mythic narrative they act as caretakers or escorts—one source states that Dionysus was entrusted as a child to Ambrosia and her sisters, the Hyades, and that the Hyades escorted the child during the episode in which Lycurgus assaulted Dionysus on Mount Nysa—indicating roles as guardians/nursemaids. The supplied sources do not ascribe specific magical spells, ritual powers, or detailed supernatural abilities beyond these seasonal and social functions.