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Orchis ( grc, Ὄρχις, Órkhis, testicle, orchid is often claimed to be a minor character 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 ...
whose transformation is the origin of the
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...
flower. However, Orchis's existence and myth does not seem to be attested to in classical times.
Mythology
The unattested myth supposedly goes that Orchis was the son of a
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 a
satyr
In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exa ...
whose names are usually not disclosed, though sometimes given as Acolasia and Patellanus (in some accounts, he is said to be the son of the fertility god
Priapus). One day, during a festival in honour of
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...
the god of wine, Orchis raped or attempted to rape one of Dionysus's priestesses, so the god killed him. His father mourned his death and asked the gods to bring him back, but they refused, and instead settled on creating the
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...
flower out of him. An alternative version of his death has him being torn apart by wild animals or the priestesses themselves, and, through the intervention of the gods, the orchid grows from his testicles.
Background
Over the years, this story has been repeated in books (mostly those on
herbology
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...
), websites, and journals, however, none are known to have included a citation to a specific original source dating to ancient
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
or
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
The story is not included in modern works noted for their completeness regarding ancient Greek mythology, such as the German encyclopedia ''
Der Neue Pauly
Der or DER may refer to:
Places
* Darkənd, Azerbaijan
* Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US
* Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq
* d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...
'', which is considered to be an unparalleled masterpiece of classical German scholarship, the ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
'' by
William Smith, which has been praised for its thorough and accurate entries that draw directly from ancient literary sources, or in Paul M. C. Forbes Irving's ''Metamorphosis in Greek Myths'', a work specifically dealing with the themes of transformation in Greek mythology.
"Orchis" as a proper name, and the names sometimes given to his parents, Patellanus and Acolasia, do not appear anywhere before 1704, the year when French writer
Louis Liger published a gardening book called ''Le Jardinier Fleuriste et Historiographe'' ("the floristic and historical gardener"). Liger's book is the oldest known work where Orchis's tale appears, and it is considered likely that it was his own invention, although it does borrow elements from genuine myths, such as those of
Pentheus (who is torn apart) and
Hyacinthus (who dies and is transformed into a flower).
The orchid was known to the ancient Greeks, and they did make a connection between the plant and satyrs: early herbalists would call the orchid 'satyrion'. It was seen as an aphrodisiac, and some species (particularly the ''
orchis italica
''Orchis italica'', the naked man orchid or the Italian orchid, is a species of orchid native to the Mediterranean Basin. It gets its common name from the lobed lip (labellum) of each flower which mimics the general shape of a naked man. In Ital ...
'') were thought to resemble a little satyr in shape.
Theophrastus
Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...
, author of one of the
most important books of natural history written in ancient times, wrote that they were called thus due to their round root, which bore a resemblance to human testicles, and recorded their healing and aphrodisiac properties. Orchids were thought to help produce male progeny if given to men, or female progeny if given to women.
Another similar myth is the story of
Butes
In Greek mythology, the name Butes (; Ancient Greek: Βούτης, ''Boútēs'') referred to several different people.
*Butes, an Athenian prince as the son of King Pandion I and the naiad Zeuxippe. He was a priest of Poseidon and Athena and was ...
, a Thracian man who raped
Coronis, a follower of Dionysus. She called upon her god, and he punished Butes by driving him mad and ended with his falling to his death down a well.
[ Diodorus Siculus, '' Historic Library']
5.50.5
/ref>
See also
* Acantha
* Amethyste
* Clytie
In Greek mythology, the name Clytie (Ancient Greek: Κλυτίη, Ionic) or Clytia (, Attic and other dialects) may refer to:
*Clytie (Oceanid), known for her unrequited love for Helios. Out of jealousy, Clytie arranged the death of Leucotho ...
* Rainbow crow
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
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Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
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External links
*
Satyrs
Fictional rapists
Orchids
Fakelore
Shapeshifting
{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology