Myrice (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Myrice (/ˈmɪərɪsiː/ MEER-ee-see; Ancient Greek: Μυρίκη, romanized: Muríkē, lit. 'tamarix' pronounced [myríkɛː]) is a minor figure from the island of Cyprus. Like both of her siblings Myrrha and Amaracus, she was transformed into a plant bearing her name.

Family

She was the daughter of Cinyras, a king of Cyprus, and thus sister to Myrrha and Amaracus, thus aunt/half-sister to Adonis.

Mythology

The mournful[lower-alpha 1] Myrice was transformed into a tamarix tree (myrike in Greek),[2][3] possibly by Aphrodite, as the tamarisk was her sacred tree.[4] Additionally, a Hellenistic and Roman-era cult dedicated to Myricaean Apollo (Μυρικαίος Ἀπόλλων, "Apollo of the Tamarisk") is attested on the Northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos.[5]

See also

Notes
  1. Hesychius tried to link her name with the verb μύρεσθαι, myresthai, "to mourn".[1][2]

References
  1. Murr 1890, p. 106.
  2. Forbes Irving 1990, p. 276.
  3. Hesychius of Alexandria s.v. μυρίκη
  4. Farrar 2016, p. 159.
  5. Kourtzellis 2019, pp. 162–181.

Bibliography
  • Hesychius of Alexandria (1792). Hesychii Lexicon ex codice ms. Bibliothecae D. Marci restitutum et ab omnibus Musuri correctionibus repurgatum, sive, Supplementa ad editionem Hesychii Albertinam (in Greek). Translated by Schow Niels. Lipsiae.
  • Farrar, Linda (2016). Gardens and Gardeners of the Ancient World: History, Myth and Archaeology. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-909686-85-4.
  • Forbes Irving, Paul M. C. (1990). Metamorphosis in Greek Myths. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-814730-9.
  • Kourtzellis, Yannis (2019). "The Sanctuaries on the Island of Lesbos from an Architectural and Topographical Perspective". In Elena C. Partida; Barbara Schmidt-Dounas (eds.). Listening to the Stones: Essays on Architecture and Function in Ancient Greek Sanctuaries in Honour of Richard Alan Tomlinson. Archaeopress. doi:10.2307/j.ctvr00x79. S2CID 240990698. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  • Murr, Josef (1890). Die Pflanzenwelt in der griechischen Mythologie (in German). Wagnerische Universitäts-Buchhandlung.
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