| Hyacinth | |
|---|---|
Divine hero of Sparta | |
| Member of the Spartan Royal Family | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:The_Death_of_Hyacinthos.jpg) The Death of Hyacinthos (1801), by Jean Broc. The discus that killed Hyacinthos can be seen at his feet. Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, France. | |
| Other names | Hyacinthus, Hyakinthos, Amyclides |
| Major cult centre | Lacedaemon |
| Abode | Sparta, Mount Olympus |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | a Amyclas and Diomede (b) Oebalus (c) Clio and Pierus |
| Siblings | a Argalus, Cynortas, Laodamia (or Leanira), Harpalus, Hegesandre and ?Polyboea (a) half-sister by Amyclas: ?Daphne (c) Rhagus |
| Consort | loved by Apollo, Zephyrus, Boreas and Thamyris |
Hyacinth /ˈhaɪəsɪnθ/ or Hyacinthus (Ancient Greek: Ὑάκινθος, Huákinthos, /hy.á.kin.tʰos, iˈa.cin.θos/) is a deified hero and a lover of Apollo in Greek mythology. His cult at Amyclae southwest of Sparta dates from the Mycenaean era. The hero is mythically linked to local cults and identified with Apollo. In the Classical period, a temenos, or sanctuary, grew up around what was alleged to be his burial mound, which was located at the feet of a statue of Apollo.[1]
- ^ There have been finds of sub-Mycenaean votive figures and of votive figures from the Geometric Period, but with a gap in continuity between them at this site: "it is clear that a radical reinterpretation has taken place," Walter Burkert has observed, instancing many examples of this break in cult during the "Greek Dark Ages", including Amykles (Burkert, Greek Religion, 1985, p 49); before the post-war archaeology, Machteld J. Mellink, (Hyakinthos, Utrecht, 1943) had argued for continuity with Minoan origins.