Hyacinthus

Hyăcinthus or -os, i, m., = Ὑάκινθος,

• a beautiful Spartan youth, son of Oebalus, beloved by Apollo, and accidentally killed by a blow of his quoit; from his blood sprang the flower of the same name, marked with the exclamation AI, Ov. M. 10, 162 sq.; Hyg. Fab. 272; Plin. 21, 11, 38, § 66; Serv. Verg. E. 3, 63.—Plur.: sed gladiator erat; facit hoc illos Hyacinthos, i. e. as beautiful as Hyacinthus, Juv. 6, 110.—
• • B Hyăcinthĭa, ōrum, n., the festival in honor of Hyacinthus, in Sparta, Ov. M. 10, 219.—
• II Hence, hyăcinthus or -os, i, m., the hyacinth, not, however, our hyacinth, but either the blue iris or fleur-de-lis, Iris Germanica, Linn.; the corn-flag or gladiolus, Gladiolus communis, Linn.; or the rocket larkspur, Delphinium Ajacis, Linn.; Plin. 21, 11, 38, § 66; Verg. E. 3, 63; 6, 53; id. G. 4, 183; id. A. 11, 69; Col. poët. 10,100.—Hence,
• • B Transf., f., a precious stone of the color of a hyacinth (perh. our sapphire or a dark-colored amethyst), Plin. 37, 9, 41, § 125 sq.; Vulg. Exod. 25, 4; Inscr. Orell. 2510.

1. Hyacinthus (od. -os), ī, m. (Ὑάκινθος), ein lazedämonischer Jüngling, von Apollo geliebt, aber auch von ihm durch einen unglücklichen Wurf getötet, indem Zephyrus, der Nebenbuhler Apollos, aus Eifersucht den von Apollo geworfenen Diskus dem schönen Knaben an den Kopf trieb, worauf aus seinem Blute nach der Mythe die Blume Hyazinthe (s. 2. hyacinthus) entsproßte, in deren Blätterstreifen man die Buchstaben AI AI, als Wehklagelaut Apollos, od. das Y, als Anfangsbuchstaben des Namens Hyazinthus, fand, Ov. met. 10, 184–215. Plin. 21, 66. – Dav. Hyacinthia, iōrum, n. (Ὑακίνθια), das Hyazinthusfest, ein dreitägiges Fest, das die Lazedämonier jährlich dem Hyazinthus zu Ehren feierten, indem am ersten Tage Heroen- u. Totenopfer, an den beiden übrigen apollinische Festzüge u. Wettspiele stattfanden, Ov. met. 10, 219.

1 Hўăcinthus (-thŏs), ī, m. (Ὑάκινθος), Hyacinthe [jeune Lacédémonien métamorphosé en fleur par Apollon] : Ov. M. 10, 162.

Hyacinthus

(Ὑάκινθος). (1) Son of King Amyclas, of Amyclae in Laconia, and of Diomedes. He was beloved for his beauty by Apollo and Zephyrus. As Apollo was one day teaching the boy how to play at quoits, on the banks of the river Eurotas, the wind-god in his jealousy drove the quoit with such violence against the head of Hyacinthus that the blow killed him. From his blood Apollo caused a flower of the same name to spring up, with the exclamation of woe, AI, AI, marked upon its petals. (See Aiax.) Hyacinthus, like Adonis, is a personification of vegetation, which flourishes in the spring-time, but is scorched and killed by the glowing heat of the summer sun, which is symbolized by the quoit or discus.

(2) The flower sprung from the blood of Hyacinthus, described in the older poets as dark but later as rather light; so that several flowers have been included under the name.

(3) The jacinth, or perhaps the sapphire.