Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Apollo and Hyacinthus explained
Apollo, the god of music and archery, falls deeply in love with the mortal youth Hyacinthus.
What happens
Apollo, the god of music and archery, falls deeply in love with the mortal youth Hyacinthus. They spend their days together in various sports and pastimes until a tragic accident occurs during a game of quoits. Apollo's discus strikes Hyacinthus fatally, and despite the god's desperate efforts, the youth dies. Apollo transforms Hyacinthus's blood into a flower, the hyacinth, and marks its petals with a sign of his grief. The story is also attributed to the jealousy of Zephyrus, the West Wind, who may have deliberately caused the accident.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Transformation
Apollo's love for Hyacinthus leads to the youth's tragic death and subsequent transformation into a flower, symbolizing eternal remembrance.
Jealousy and Revenge
Zephyrus's jealousy of Apollo's bond with Hyacinthus drives him to cause the fatal accident, illustrating how envy can lead to destruction.
Characters to notice
- Phoebus Apollo
Deeply in love with Hyacinthus, Apollo is devastated by the accidental death of the youth and transforms him into a flower.
- Zephyrus
The West Wind, jealous of Apollo's affection for Hyacinthus, is said to have blown the discus off course, causing the fatal accident.
Key passages
“Apollo was passionately fond of a youth named Hyacinthus. He accompanied him in his sports, carried the nets when he went fishing, led the dogs when he went to hunt, followed him in his excursions in the mountains, and neglected for him his lyre and his arrows.”
Apollo loved Hyacinthus deeply and spent all his time with him, joining in his activities and even abandoning his own divine pursuits.
Highlights the depth of Apollo's devotion and the extent to which he prioritized Hyacinthus.
“Thou diest, Hyacinth, so spoke Phoebus, robbed of thy youth by me. Thine is the suffering, mine the crime. Would that I could die for thee! But since that may not be, thou shalt live with me in memory and in song.”
Apollo mourns Hyacinthus, taking the blame for his death and promising to immortalize him through music and remembrance.
Shows Apollo's guilt and his desire to preserve Hyacinthus's legacy.
“While Apollo spoke, behold the blood which had flowed on the ground and stained the herbage ceased to be blood; but a flower of hue more beautiful than the Tyrian sprang up, resembling the lily, if it were not that this is purple and that silvery white.”
As Apollo spoke, Hyacinthus's blood transformed into a beautiful purple flower, similar to a lily but with a richer color.
Describes the miraculous transformation of blood into the hyacinth flower.