Disc pyramid earrings BM J1672-3 (cropped)

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

and the daughter of Pan and

, 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 ...

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)

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 *

, ''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 LibraryGreek 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

Mythology

See also

Notes

References