Flower Myth Series: Adonis

The Death of Adonis, by Luca Giordano (1684-1686)

From: Ovid, Metamorphoses 10 (ca. 8 C.E.); Theocritus, Idyll XV (ca. C3rd B.C.E.); Bion, The Lament for Adonis (ca. late C2nd-early C1st B.C.E.)

"Oh, weep for Adonais--he is dead

Wake, melancholy Mother, wake and weep!

Yet wherefore? Quench within their burning bed

Thy fiery tears, and let thy loud heart keep

Like his, a mute and uncomplaining sleep;

For he is gone, where all things wise and fair

Descend"

-Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley 

Flower Myth Series: Hyacinthus

 The Death of Hyacinthos, by Jean Broc (1801)

From:  Homer, Illiad ii.595 - 600 (c. 700 BCE); 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)

"The festival of Hyacinthus,

That lasts throughout the tranquil night.

In a contest with Apollo

He was slain."

-The Story of Helen by Euripides 

Flower Myth Series: Narcissus and Echo

Narcissus, by Caravaggio (1594-1596)

From: Metamorphoses, Book III by Ovid, ca. 8 AD; Guide to Greece, 9.31.7 by Pausanias, ca. 140 C.E.; similar accounts in Conon's Narrations and a parchment fragment found in the Oxyrhynchus papyri.

"The more she followed him the hotter did she burn, 

As when the flame flares upward from the sulphur on the torch. 

Oh, how she longed to make her passion known! 

To plead in soft entreaty! to implore his love!"

 -Metamorphoses by Ovid

Europa

 

From: Metamorphosis by Ovid, ca. 8 CE; Europa by Moschus, ca. 100-200 BCE; Catalogue of Women by Hesiod (?), ca. 700 BCE.

"First in the shallow waves the great god set

His spurious hooves, then sauntered further out

'Til in the open sea he bore his prize

Fear filled her heart as, gazing back, she saw

The fast receding sands . . . ."

-Metamorphosis by Ovid

Prometheus and Io

From: Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus (maybe), ca. 430 BCE; Metamorphosis by Ovid, ca. 8 CE

"The heart of Zeus thou hast made hot with love
And Hera's curse even as a runner stripped
Pursues thee ever on thine endless round."
-Prometheus, Prometheus Bound

About

Neither most of my friends nor I have a fair apprehension of Greek and Roman mythology. This is a problem, as Western mythology still vibrantly pulses through our own cultural contributions, as well as those of our predecessors. Plus, a lot of the stories are badass.

To remedy said problem, Myth-O-Matic will post information about one myth every day. The base source will be Edith Hamilton's seminal Mythology, as well as some other written works and the internets. 'Matic will try to note interesting facts about the myth's subsequent influence, initial descriptions in ancient literature, and various other info-bits.