In antiquity, nymphs associated with the trees. If you cut a tree down, they would die. If you pouted the water, they would suffer. Nymphs had a very important role to play, but they couldn’t defend their territory. One important theme was the idea of working with nature and agriculture. The theme was so popular largely because so many more people had to farm and perform in agricultural duties than do people today. Hunting, like agriculture, was an extremely popular theme. It’s one of the most basic animalistic skills – every animal has to hunt in some for sustenance. One of the most important pieces of dominating nature is the idea of magic – magic is extremely important in the field of antiquity. Witches are almost invariably depicted as female, and males profit from the spells. If you’re young and attractive, you are an enchantress – and people are only attracted to you because of a spell. ‘A charming smile’ comes from the idea that a smile would actually put a spell on you. Love can be seen as a wound, disease, or madness — not just the form of beauty and wonder that we are used to in modern form.