Hyacinthus (Ancient Greek: Ὑάκινθος) was a divine hero and a lover of Apollo from Greek mythology. His cult at Amyclae southwest of Sparta dates from the Mycenaean era. He was also admired by Zephyrus who, out of jealousy, ended up accidentally killing him.
Mythology[]
Hyacinth was a Spartan prince of remarkable beauty and a lover of the Apollo. In addition to the sun god, Hyacinth was also admired by several other men, including Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, but this did not affect Hyacinth's choice of Apollo.
With the god, Hyacinth visited all of Apollo's holy lands in a chariot pulled by his swans. Apollo felt such a fierce love for Hyacinth that he abandoned all his responsibilities at the sanctuary in Delphi so that he could spend time with his love in such futile pastimes as a stroll along the river Eurotas, compose lyre songs, and exercise in the gymnasium.
One day, Apollo was teaching Hyacinth the game of quoits. They decided to have a friendly competition, taking turns to throw the discus. Apollo threw first, but what he didn't expect was that Zephyrus, jealous of Hyacinth's preference, blew the discus aiming at Apollo, but Hyacinth, wanting to protect his love, jumped in front of him, taking the discus' damage.
Apollo's face paled as he held his dying lover in his arms. He used all kinds of herbs he could find and even tried giving him ambrosia to grant him immortality and, by extension, heal his wound, but in vain as he could never heal a wound inflicted by the Fates.
When Hyacinth inevitably passed away, Apollo couldn't hold back his tears, begging to become a mortal to join his lover in his death, but he knew that was impossible. This being unattainable, Apollo promised that he would always remember Hyacinth through her songs and the music of her lyre. From Hyacinth's shed blood he created a flower, the hyacinth, and on its petals he inscribed the words of lamentation, "AI AI" – "alas".