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In
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
, Iynx ( grc-gre, Ἴϋγξ, Íÿnx) was an
Arcadian Oread
In Greek mythology, an Oread (; grc, Ὀρειάς, Oreiás, stem grc, Ὀρειάδ-, Oreiád-, label=none, la, Oreas/Oread-, from grc, ὄρος, , mountain, label=none; french: Oréade) or Orestiad (; grc, Ὀρεστιάδες, Orest ...
nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
; a daughter of the god
Pan and
Echo
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...
. In popular myth, she used an enchantment to cast a spell on
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
which caused him to fall in love with
Io. In consequence of this,
Hera metamorphosed her into the bird called iynx (
Eurasian wryneck, ''Jynx torquilla'').
''Iynx'' toys were small metal or wooden discs rotated by pulling attached strings, in a manner similar to more modern
button whirligig toys.
Mythology
Iynx was an
Arcadian nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
and the daughter of
Pan and
Echo
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...
, or
Peitho
In Greek mythology, Peitho ( grc, Πειθώ, Peithō, Persuasion or 'winning eloquence') is the goddess who personifies persuasion and seduction. Her Roman equivalent is Suada or Suadela. She is the goddess of charming speech. She is typically ...
. She was the creator of a magical love-charm known as the ''iynx''—a spinning wheel with a wryneck bird attached. Iynx used her enchantments to make Zeus fall in love with her or with the nymph
Io. Hera was enraged and transformed her into a wryneck bird.
According to another story, she was a daughter of
Pierus
Pierus (; grc, Πίερος), in Greek mythology, is a name attributed to two individuals:
* Pierus, the eponym of Pieria, son of Makednos and father of the Pierides.Antoninus Liberalis, 9
* Pierus, son of Thessalian Magnes and father of Hyac ...
, and as she and her sisters had presumed to enter into a musical contest with the
Muses, she was changed into the bird iynx. This bird, the symbol of passionate and restless love, was given by
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...
to
Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...
, who, by turning it round and pronouncing certain magic words, excited the love of
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
.
Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...
, Pythian Ode 4. 380, &c.; Tzetzes
John Tzetzes ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Τζέτζης, Iōánnēs Tzétzēs; c. 1110, Constantinople – 1180, Constantinople) was a Byzantine poet and grammarian who is known to have lived at Constantinople in the 12th century.
He was able to pr ...
on Lycophron 310 (cited in Smith)
See also
*
Jinx
A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck.
The word ''"jynx"'' meaning the bird wryneck and sometimes a charm or spell has been in use in English since the seventeen ...
Notes
References
*
Antoninus Liberalis, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.Entry for ἴυγξ in LSJ Greek Lexicon (via Perseus)– including magical uses of the word
*
Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...
, ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Pindar, ''The Odes of Pindar'' including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Nymphs
Deeds of Hera
Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology
Witchcraft in folklore and mythology
{{Greek-myth-stub