Apollo and Hyacinth: a love story

Hyacinth was a handsome boy who was blessed to be loved by the god Apollo.

One tragic afternoon, when the sunset was already looming over the horizon, Hyacinth and Apollo strengthened themselves by practicing the manly sports of the Olympians; On this occasion, the discus throw, one of the god’s favorite games, when Apollo, to boast of his skill, and perhaps to impress his lover, threw the discus with superhuman strength. Jacinto tried to catch him and was hit squarely in the chest.

Other versions of the myth hold Zephyrus, a god of the West wind, responsible for the accident. It seems that the boy’s beauty had caused some arguments with Apollo. Finally, Hyacinth chose the company of Apollo, and Zephyrus, spiteful, diverted the trajectory of the disk and put it on a collision course with his skull.

While poor Hyacinth was dying, Hades, the Lord of the dead, appeared at the scene of the tragedy to claim his corpse. Apollo intervened, perhaps arguing the lover’s privileges, and cried for long hours over his lifeless body. From the wounds and tears mixed with blood grew a flower that has since been called hyacinth.

Shameless exegetes explain that the name Hyacinthus is pre-Hellenic, and that Apollo is a god of Doric origin. In this sense, the purpose of the love story of Apollo and Hyacinth would be to narrate the replacement of an old local deity with another arrival from foreign lands.

For others, equally fallacious, the myth of Apollo and Hyacinth poetizes about the Spartan pederastic institution. Apollo is not only Hyacinth’s lover, but also his teacher, his tutor. Philostratus, who was an Athenian, and therefore not very objective about the Spartan tragedies, slips that Hyacinthus, in addition to loving Apollo physically, learned different trades from the god, such as the use of the bow and the art of music. Pausanias, on the other hand, rejoices in finding out whether Hyacinthus was beardless or not.

From here, we admit and respect all opinions, although we prefer to remain with the image of a saddened god who imagines that perhaps the name is also the thing it designates, and that if a name survives, even in a flower, it will too. the spirit that sustained her.

Beyond the different interpretations of the myth, Philostratus comments on an overwhelming fact. The cult of Hyacinth was established in Amiclas, where his flower was not known until a superb statue of Apollo was erected. From then on, and without any gardener being able to boast of his care, the god’s feet were always adorned with the fragile and fragrant petals of the hyacinth.

Greek myths. I Mythology.

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