Male Lovers
Hyacinth or Hyacinthus was one of Apollo's male lovers. He was a Spartan prince, beautiful and athletic. The pair was practicing throwing the discus when a discus thrown by Apollo was blown off course by the jealous Zephyrus and struck Hyacinthus in the head, killing him instantly. Apollo is said to be filled with grief: out of Hyacinthus' blood, Apollo created a flower named after him as a memorial to his death, and his tears stained the flower petals with άί άί, meaning alas. The Festival of Hyacinthus was a celebration of Sparta.
Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. Apollo gave him a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin as it lay asleep in the undergrowth. Cyparissus asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Apollo granted the request by turning him into the Cypress named after him, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk.
Other male lovers of Apollo include:
- Admetus
- Atymnius, otherwise known as a beloved of Sarpedon
- Branchus (alternately, a son of Apollo)
- Carnus
- Clarus
- Hippolytus of Sicyon (not the same as Hippolytus)
- Hymenaios
- Iapis
- Leucates, who threw himself off a rock when Apollo attempted to carry him off
- Phorbas (probably the son of Triopas)
- Potnieus
Read more about this topic: Apollo, Mythology, Consorts and Children
Famous quotes containing the words male and/or lovers:
“Men have defined the parameters of every subject. All feminist arguments, however radical in intent or consequence, are with or against assertions or premises implicit in the male system, which is made credible or authentic by the power of men to name.”
—Andrea Dworkin (b. 1946)
“Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess?
Do they call virtue there ungratefulness?”
—Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)