5 Feb 2012

Hyacinths - a little bit of spring in the depths of winter

I love to have Hyacinths in my house this time of year, they are welcome bit of colour in the darkness of winter.  My house is filled with their beautiful scent, a scent full of all the possibilities of spring.

I found this lovely myth via Wikipedia.

Hyacinth was a beautiful youth loved by both the god Apollo and the West Wind, Zephyr.  Apollo and Hyacinth took turns at throwing the discus.  Hyacinth ran to catch it to impress Apollo, but he was struck by the discus as it fell to the ground, and died. A twist in the tale makes the wind god Zephyrus responsible for the death of Hyacinth. The youth's beauty caused a feud between Zephyrus and Apollo.  Jealous that Hyacinth preferred the radiant archery god Apollo, Zephyrus blew Apollo's discus off course, so as to injure and kill Hyacinth. Apollo did not allow Hades to claim Hyacinth. Instead, Apollo made a flower, the hyacinth, from Hyacinth's spilled blood.




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