In Greek mythology, Myrsine (Ancient Greek: Μυρσίνη, romanized: Mursínē, lit. 'myrtle') is an Attic girl who won the favour of Athena thanks to her impressive athletic achievements and her beauty, and the envy of the other Atticans for the same reason.[1] Her brief tale survives in the Geoponica, a Byzantine Greek collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the tenth century in Constantinople for the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus.
Etymology
[edit]The Ancient Greek word μυρσίνη (myrsínē) means 'myrtle'.[2] Other spellings and forms include μυρρίνη (myrrhínē), masc. μύρρινος (mýrrhinos) for the plant overall and myrtle wreaths, while the berry is μύρτον (mýrton)[3] or μυρτίς (myrtís).[4][5] Myrsine and its variants is probably of Semitic origin, but unrelated to the word for myrrh, μύρρα (mýrrha) or σμύρνα (smýrna), despite the strong resemblance between the two words.[5] Robert Beekes suggested a pre-Greek origin due to the myrt-/myrs- variation.[6]
Mythology
[edit]The Attican maiden Myrsine surpassed all girls in beauty and all boys in strength, winning herself the favour of Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom and patron-goddess of Attica.[7][8] She excelled in both the ring and the race, beating all of her opponents. Many of her fellow athletes were envious and grew resentful, so they murdered her.[9] But Athena took pity in her favourite, and turned the dead girl into a myrtle, which was 'not less acceptable to Athena than the olive tree'.[10][11] A similar, almost word-for-word, story was also told about another maiden, Elaea, who was changed into an olive tree.[11]
The myrtle was also seen as Aphrodite's sacred plant, and she too had a story connecting her to it.[9][11]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Rosemary M. Wright. "A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations". mythandreligion.upatras.gr. University of Patras. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Liddell & Scott s.v. μυρσίνη
- ^ Liddell & Scott s.v.μύρτος
- ^ Liddell & Scott s.v. μυρτίς
- ^ a b Hünemörder, Christian (2006). "Myrtle". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Translated by Christine F. Salazar. Hamburg: Brill Reference Online. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ Beekes 2010, pp. 983-984.
- ^ Cancik et al. 2002, p. 423.
- ^ New York (State) Legislature Assembly, p. 683
- ^ a b Versnel 1993, p. 264, note 119.
- ^ Geoponica 6
- ^ a b c Forbes Irving 1990, p. 278.
Bibliography
[edit]- Anonymous (1805). Geoponika: Agricultural Pursuits. Vol. II. Translated by Thomas Owen. London.
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010). Lucien van Beek (ed.). Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series. Vol. ΙΙ. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Publications. ISBN 978-90-04-17419-1.
- Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth; Salazar, Christine F.; Orton, David E. (2002). Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Vol. IX. Brill Publications. ISBN 978-90-04-12272-7.
- Forbes Irving, Paul M. C. (1990). Metamorphosis in Greek Myths. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-814730-9.
- Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
- New York (State) Legislature Assembly (March 28, 1865). Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. Vol. 9. C. Wendell.
- Versnel, Henk (1993). Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion. Vol. II: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Publications. ISBN 90-04-09266-8.
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