In Greek mythology, Maia ( /ˈmeɪ.ə/ or /ˈmaɪ.ə/; Greek: Μαῖα; Latin: Maia) is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes. The goddess known as Maia among the Romans may have originated independently, but attracted the myths of Greek Maia because the two figures shared the same name.

Maia is the daughter of Atlas and Pleione the Oceanid, and is the eldest of the seven Pleiades. They were born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, and are sometimes called mountain nymphs, oreads; Simonides of Ceos sang of "mountain Maia" (Maia oureias) "of the lovely black eyes." Because they were daughters of Atlas, they were also called the Atlantides.

According to the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, Zeus in the dead of night secretly begot Hermes upon Maia, who avoided the company of the gods, in a cave of Cyllene. After giving birth to the baby, Maia wrapped him in blankets and went to sleep. The rapidly-maturing infant Hermes crawled away to Thessaly, where by nightfall of his first day he stole some of his brother Apollo's cattle and invented the lyre from a tortoise shell. Maia refused to believe Apollo when he claimed Hermes was the thief and Zeus then sided with Apollo. Finally, Apollo exchanged the cattle for the lyre, which became one of his identifying attributes.

Maia ( /ˈmaɪ.ə/) is a female given name of Greek origin. Together with other similar words, it may refer to:

The term "mythology" can refer either to the study of myths (e.g., comparative mythology), or to a body or collection of myths (a mythos, e.g., Inca mythology). In folkloristics, a myth is a sacred narrative usually explaining how the world or humankind came to be in its present form, although, in a very broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story. Myths typically involve supernatural characters and are endorsed by rulers or priests. They may arise as overelaborated accounts of historical events, as allegory for or personification of natural phenomena, or as an explanation of ritual. They are transmitted to convey religious or idealized experience, to establish behavioral models, and to teach.

Early rival classifications of Greek mythos by Euhemerus, Plato's Phaedrus, and Sallustius were developed by the neoplatonists and revived by Renaissance mythographers as in the Theologia mythologica (1532). Nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as evolution toward science (E. B. Tylor), "disease of language" (Max Müller), or misinterpretation of magical ritual (James Frazer). Later interpretations rejected opposition between myth and science, such as Jungian archetypes, Joseph Campbell's "metaphor of spiritual potentiality", or Lévi-Strauss's fixed mental architecture. Tension between Campbell's comparative search for monomyth or Ur-myth and anthropological mythologists' skepticism of universal origin has marked the 20th century. Further, modern mythopoeia such as fantasy novels, manga, and urban legend, with many competing artificial mythoi acknowledged as fiction, supports the idea of myth as ongoing social practice.

Circe Maia (1932-, b. in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan writer.

Maia has published poetry and translations.

Among her better known works are an English-Spanish bilingual compilation of her poems, 'Yesterday a Eucalyptus', Amersham, UK: Brindin Press, 2001.

Other of her poetry publications include:

'Cambios, permanencias' (Changes, permanencies), Montevideo: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental, 1978, p. p. 12-67

'Dos voces' (Two voices), Montevideo, Ediciones Siete Poetas Hispanoamericanas, 1981, p. p. 68-105

'Superficies' (Surfaces), Montevideo: Ediciones de la Feria, 1990

'De lo visible' (The Visible), Montevideo: Assoc. de Impresores del Uruguay, 1998

Maia has lived for many years in the northern city of Tacuarembó. Along with fellow writer Jesús Moraes, she is one of the relatively few contemporary Uruguayan writers to be strongly identified with the north of the country.

Her series of poems 'Poemas de Caraguatá, I, II, III & IV', take their name from the Maia's reflections provoked by an indigenous toponym of Tacuarembó Department in the north of the country, which may variously refer to a range of hills Cuchilla de Caraguatá, a local town named after that range of hills, a local river, the Caraguatá River, or a local plant.