In
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, Myrsine () is an Attic girl who won the favour of
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
thanks to her impressive athletic achievements and her beauty, and the envy of the other Atticans for the same reason. Her brief tale survives in the ''
Geoponica
The ''Geoponica'' or ''Geoponika'' () is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the 10th century in Constantinople for the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The Greek word ''Geoponica'' signifies "agricul ...
'', a Byzantine Greek collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the tenth century in
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
for the Byzantine emperor
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, a ...
.
Etymology
The Ancient Greek word (''myrsínē'') means 'myrtle'. Other spellings and forms include (''myrrhínē''), masc. (''mýrrhinos'') for the plant overall and myrtle wreaths, while the berry is (''mýrton'') or (''myrtís'').
Myrsine and its variants is probably of
Semitic origin, but unrelated to the word for myrrh, (''mýrrha'') or (''smýrna''), despite the strong resemblance between the two words.
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 lang ...
suggested a
pre-Greek
The pre-Greek substrate (or substratum) consists of the unknown pre-Greek language or languages (either Pre-Indo-European or other Indo-European languages) spoken in prehistoric Greece prior to the emergence of the Proto-Greek language in the r ...
origin due to the ''myrt-/myrs-'' variation.
Mythology
The Attican maiden Myrsine surpassed all girls in beauty and all boys in strength, winning herself the favour of
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
, the virgin goddess of wisdom and patron-goddess of
Attica
Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...
. She excelled in both the
ring
(The) Ring(s) may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV
* ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...
and the race, beating all of her opponents. Many of her fellow athletes were envious and grew resentful, so they murdered her. But Athena took pity in her favourite, and turned the dead girl into a
myrtle, which was 'not less acceptable to Athena than the olive tree'.
['']Geoponica
The ''Geoponica'' or ''Geoponika'' () is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the 10th century in Constantinople for the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The Greek word ''Geoponica'' signifies "agricul ...
'
6
/ref> A similar, almost word-for-word, story was also told about another maiden, Elaea, who was changed into an olive tree.
The myrtle was also seen as Aphrodite
Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
's sacred plant, and she too had a story connecting her to it.
See also
* Arachne
Arachne (; from , cognate with Latin ) is the protagonist of a tale in classical mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE). In Book Six of his epic poem ''Metamorphoses'', Ovid recounts how ...
* Myrina
* Myrmex
References
Bibliography
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Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
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{{Authority control
Mythological people from Attica
Metamorphoses into flowers in Greek mythology
Deeds of Athena
Women in Greek mythology