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Hyacinthus 1 is said to have been a very
handsome young man, of beauty only comparable to
that of Endymion,
Ganymedes,
Narcissus,
Adonis,
Hermaphroditus,
Hylas, or Chrysippus 2.
After him the hyacinth flower was called.
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Thamyris 1 falls in love with Hyacinthus 1
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The first to fall in love with Hyacinthus 1 was
the Thracian Thamyris 1, son of Philammon, son of
Apollo, or as others say,
son of Hephaestus. It
is said that Thamyris 1 was the first man to fall
in love with males. Philammon was famous for his
song and zither, and his son Thamyris 1, excelling
both in beauty an minstrelsy, engaged in a musical
contest with the MUSES; it
was agreed that if he won the contest he would be
allowed to enjoy them all, but if he were defeated,
the MUSES would have the
right to do with him what they wished. When
Thamyris 1 was vanquished, the goddesses took away
his eyes and minstrelsy, and he is still being
punished in the
Underworld for his
boast against the MUSES.
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Apollo kills
Hyacinthus 1 involuntarily
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Next, Apollo fell in
love with Hyacinthus 1, and once they tried a
contest with the discus. But when Hyacinthus 1 ran
out to take up the discus that
Apollo had thrown, the
earth returned the throw, hurling it back at
Hyacinthus 1's face. Others have said that it was
Zephyrus 1 (one of the
WINDS), who out of
jealousy, caused the discus to strike Hyacinthus
1's head. In any case,
Apollo tried to save the
life of the youth by applying herbs and using his
healing art, but the wound was past all cure, and
the young man died.
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Apollo holds the dying
Hyacinthus 1
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The flower
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From Hyacinthus 1's blood sprung a flower
bearing the marks of
Apollo's lamentation. And
Publius Ovidius Naso, who being a poet can see
things invisible to ordinary mortals, says that in
its petals Apollo
inscribed the letters AI AI, which imitate the
god's groans. The poet also says that later the
blood of Ajax 1 produced
the same flower, and that the letters remind of
both this name and
Apollo's cry of woe. But
not everybody is able to read the hyacinth.
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The hyacinthine curls
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Also the form of the petals has been compared
with the hair of both Hyacinthus 1 and others, and
that is why it has been chanted:
"... and from
his head she made locks to flow in curls like the
hyacinth flower." [Homer,
Odyssey
6.230]
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Tomb and festival
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The tomb of Hyacinthus 1 was below the image of
Apollo in the city of
Amyclae where the Lacedaemonians perfomed rites in
honor of the god and Hyacinthus 1, known as the
festival of the Hyacinthia.
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Immortality
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Some affirm that Hyacinthus 1 is immortal
through the hyacinth, but others have said that
Aphrodite,
Athena, and
Artemis carried him and
his sister Polyboea 1, who died a maid, to heaven.
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Namesake
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Hyacinthus 2 was a Lacedaemonian whose daughters
were slaughtered by the Athenians in obedience to
an oracle in order to avoid famine and pestilence.
When King Minos 2 of
Crete was at war with
Athens, the city was
visited with both famine and pestilence; so the
Athenians, following an ancient oracle slaughtered
the daughters of Hyacinthus 2, on the grave of
Geraestus.
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Parentage [two versions]
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Amyclas 1 & Diomede 2
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Clio 1 & Pierus
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Amyclas 1, who founded a city in Laconia, was a
Lacedaemonian king. He was son of Lacedaemon and
Sparta, daughter of Eurotas, son of Myles, son of
Lelex 2. Lacedaemon was son of
Zeus and the Pleiad Taygete
[see also Sparta].
Diomede 2 is daughter of Lapithus 1, son of
Apollo and Stilbe,
daughter of the river god Peneus.
Clio 1 is one of the
MUSES. Pierus was king of
Pella, a city in Macedonia.
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Abolengo
Album - High Resolution Genealogical Charts
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Names in this chart
Amyclas 1, Apollo,
Atlas, Cleocharia, Creusa
3, Diomede 2, Eurotas,
Gaia, Hyacinthus 1,
Lacedaemon, Lapithus 1, Lelex 2, Peneus, Pleione,
Sparta, Stilbe, Taygete.
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