Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Myrina or perhaps more correctly Myrtea ( grc, Μυρτέα, Murtéa, myrtle) is a minor mythological figure, a young priestess connected to myrtle and

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 include ...

, the goddess of beauty and love. Her story is attested in the works of two authors;

Maurus Servius Honoratus Servius was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries on the works of Virgil. These works, ''In tria Vir ...

, a Latin grammarian who lived during the early fifth century AD, and the anonymous second

Vatican Mythographer The so-called Vatican Mythographers ( la, Mythographi Vaticani) are the anonymous authors of three Latin mythographical texts found together in a single medieval manuscript, Vatican Reg. lat. 1401. The name is that used by Angelo Mai when he publi ...

, whose work survives in a single manuscript that was found in 1401.

Etymology

Valid spellings of the ancient Greek word for 'myrtle' include (''myrsínē''), or (''myrrhínē''), masc. (''mýrrhinos'') for the plant overall and myrtle wreaths, while the berry is (''mýrton'') or (''myrtís''). It is probably of Semitic origin, but unrelated to the word for myrrh, (''mýrrha'') or (''smýrna''), despite the resemblance.

Robert Beekes Robert Stephen Paul Beekes (; 2 September 1937 – 21 September 2017) was a Dutch linguist who was emeritus professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at Leiden University and an author of many monographs on the Proto-Indo-European lan ...

suggested a

pre-Greek The Pre-Greek substrate (or Pre-Greek substratum) consists of the unknown pre-Indo-European language(s) spoken in prehistoric Greece before the coming of the Proto-Greek language in the Greek peninsula during the Bronze Age. It is possible that ...

origin due to the ''myrt-/myrs-'' variation. Servius spelled her name as Myrene. As the priestess' story is preserved only in Latin scripts, the original Greek spelling of her name cannot be determined. Greek spellings of 'Myrina' include (''Múrina'') and (''Murínna'').

Mythology

Myrina was an exceedingly beautiful maiden who was kidnapped by robbers and held in a cave while they committed their robberies, but she managed to escape and return to her home. Since she credited the gods for her safety and freedom, she decided to devote herself to

, the goddess of love, and became her priestess. But her previous betrothed came to the temple and took her anyway, so she killed him. She was then changed into a myrtle shrub. Because she had been such a loyal priestess, Aphrodite granted pleasant aroma to the myrtle and made it her sacred plant, explaining the myrtle's connection to Aphrodite. Servius, spelling her name as Myrene, adds that as a priestess, one day she recognised one of her captors among the crowd, and dragged him to the middle of the crowd. The man confessed and gave out the names of his associates. A young man, who had previously loved her, took up the task of hunting down the robbers. When he returned successful, he asked for a reward, and the people of the town allowed him to take Myrene to wife, in spite of her being a priestess. But Aphrodite was displeased to see her priestess break her vows, so she killed him and turned Myrene into myrtle.

Symbolism

The myrtle, which grows by the sea and was seen as appropriate for feminine necessities, was one of the most commons symbols and sacred plants connected to Aphrodite due to its link with her myths and stories, while 'Myrtia' (meaning "she of the myrtle") was one of Aphrodite's many cult titles, as was 'Murcia', meaning the same thing, for her Roman counterpart, the goddess

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. In ancient Greece dreams about myrtle garlands were seen as auspicious for women due to the myrtle's connection to Aphrodite.

Artemidorus Artemidorus Daldianus ( grc-gre, Ἀρτεμίδωρος ὁ Δαλδιανός) or Ephesius was a professional diviner who lived in the 2nd century AD. He is known from an extant five-volume Greek work, the '' Oneirocritica'' or ''Oneirokritikon ...

, ''

Oneirocritica ''Oneirocritica'' ( el, Ονειροκριτικά) (''The Interpretation of Dreams'') is an ancient Greek treatise on dream interpretation written by Artemidorus in the 2nd century AD,"Artemidorus Daldianus" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica' ...

'
I.77
/ref> The plant was also associated with Hymen, another love god sometimes said to be Aphrodite's son, and the Muse

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; grc, Ἐρατώ) is one of the Greek Muses, which were inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius o ...

. In the myth of Cupid and Psyche, Venus hits Psyche with a myrtle branch. Myrtle was also worn by her attendants, the Graces.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *
Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
*

, ''In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;'' recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* * *

External links

* * {{Authority control Deeds of Aphrodite Metamorphoses into flowers in Greek mythology Women in Greek mythology Greek mythological priestesses