Hyacinth (mythology)

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In Greek mythology, Hyacinth (in Greek, Ὑάκινθος — Hyakinthos) was a divine hero, the son of Clio and Pierus, King of Macedonia. His cult at Amyclae dates from the Mycenean era.

He is the tutelary deity of one of the principal Spartan festivals, the Hyacinthia, held every summer. The festival lasted three days, one day of mourning for the death of the divine hero and the last two celebrating his rebirth.

In the myth, Hyacinth was a beautiful youth beloved by the god Apollo. According to myth, the two competed at discus. They took turns throwing it, until Apollo, to impress his beloved, threw it with all his might. Hyacinth ran to catch it, to impress Apollo in turn, and was struck by the discus as it fell to the ground and he died.

Another myth adds that the wind god Zephyrus was actually responsible for the death of Hyacinth. The lad's beauty caused a feud between Zephyrus and Apollo, which was aggravated by the fact that Hyacinth preferred the radiant archery god Apollo. In jealousy, Zephyrus blew Apollo's discus off course, so as to injure and kill Hyacinth. When he died, Apollo did not allow Hades to claim the boy; rather, he made a flower, the hyacinth, from his spilled blood. According to Ovid's account, the tears of Apollo stained the newly formed flower's petals with the sign of his grief. However, the flower of the mythological Hyacinth has been identified with a number of plants other than the true hyacinth, such as the iris.

Although the mythical Hyacinth was male, Hyacinth is currently in use as a female name, usually in reference to the flower and not the mythological figure.

[edit] Spoken-word myths - audio files

The Hyacinth myth as told by story tellers
1. Apollo and Hyacinth, read by Timothy Carter
Bibliography of reconstruction: Homer, Illiad ii.595 - 600 (c. 700 BCE); Various 5th century BCE vase paintings; Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 46. Hyacinthus (330 BCE); Apollodorus, Library 1.3.3 (140 BCE); Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 162-219 (1CE - 8 CE); Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.1.3, 3.19.4 (160 - 176 CE); Philostratus the Elder, Images i.24 Hyacinthus (170 - 245 CE); Philostratus the Younger, Images 14. Hyacinthus (170 - 245 CE); Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 14 (170 CE); First Vatican Mythographer, 197. Thamyris et Musae

The Hyacinth myth as told by story tellers

1. Apollo and Hyacinth, read by Timothy Carter

Bibliography of reconstruction: Homer, Illiad ii.595 - 600 (c. 700 BCE); Various 5th century BCE vase paintings; Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 46. Hyacinthus (330 BCE); Apollodorus, Library 1.3.3 (140 BCE); Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 162-219 (1CE - 8 CE); Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.1.3, 3.19.4 (160 - 176 CE); Philostratus the Elder, Images i.24 Hyacinthus (170 - 245 CE); Philostratus the Younger, Images 14. Hyacinthus (170 - 245 CE); Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 14 (170 CE); First Vatican Mythographer, 197. Thamyris et Musae