Myths Blog 6

1. Apollo And Hyacinthus: Curious to see what the hyacinth looked like (as I originally missed the footnote explaining the flower wasn't the modern hyacinth) I googled it. Below the first hit about the actual flower there was a wikipedia article on the mythical Hyacinth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyacinth_%28mythology%29. Evidently all sources point to a love triangle between Zephyrus Apollo and Hyancinth. Oddly enough people today can related to this theme and the trouble of two people falling in love with the same person and the pain when he/she chooses whom to love. Love triangles continue to happen in human communities everywhere and this myth shows that for all their powers, gods still feel and hurt as humans do.

2. Ceyx And Halcyone: I liked this myth because the heartache of being separated fro aloved one and knowing he could die is a pain we all feel. Think of mothers sending their sons of to war, some of which will never return. Or a wife whose husband was killed when his plane crashed. We still lose those who are dear to us, and are still wary of journeys because we love them and are afraid to never again see their face. Halcyone is not the first and won't be the last to wish her husband alive again, to want to keep living with him, to feel the pain of death.

3. Vertumnus And Pomona: I'd like to note that this myth contains a myth within itself. Vetumnus like men today and yesterday would do anything for a girl he loves, as the popular expression says "love makes a fool out of anyone". The seduction of Pomona was all the subtext. A woman she trusts and sees not as a threat tells her of the need for love using her plants as explamples, discreetly discredits her other suitors and empowers himself and them using a story and its subtext of the importance of love and its power convinces her of him being the bets suitor and them drops his guise and his beauty wins the rest of her over.