Metamorphoses · Chapter
Hyacinthus Transformed Into a Flower explained
Apollo accidentally kills his beloved Hyacinthus while playing quoits.
What happens
Apollo accidentally kills his beloved Hyacinthus while playing quoits. Grief-stricken, Apollo transforms the boy's blood into a flower, inscribing it with signs of mourning. The Spartans honor Hyacinthus with annual festivals.
Themes in this chapter
Transformation and Metamorphosis
Hyacinthus's blood is transformed into a flower, symbolizing death and rebirth.
Love and Desire
Apollo's deep love for Hyacinthus leads to grief and the creation of a memorial flower.
Characters to notice
- Apollo
Accidentally kills Hyacinthus with a quoit and transforms his blood into a flower.
- Hyacinthus
A beautiful youth beloved by Apollo, killed by a misdirected quoit and transformed into a flower.
Key passages
“A well-poised disk first hasty Phoebus threw; It cleft the air, and whistled as it flew; It reach'd the mark, a most surprising length, Which spoke an equal share of art and strength.”
Apollo threw a well-balanced quoit that cut through the air with a whistle and landed far, showing both skill and power.
Describes the fatal throw that leads to Hyacinthus's death.
“Behold, the blood which stain'd the verdant field Is blood no longer; but a flower full blown, Far brighter than the Tyrian scarlet, shone: A lily's form it took; its purple hue Was all that made a difference to the view”
The blood on the green ground turned into a fully bloomed flower, brighter than Tyrian scarlet, shaped like a lily but purple.
The moment of transformation from blood to flower.