Hyacinthus

American  

[hahy-uh-sin-thuhs] / ˌhaɪ əˈsɪn θəs /

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a youth loved but accidentally killed by Apollo: from the youth's blood sprang the hyacinth.

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Hyacinthus British  

/ ˌhaɪəˈsɪnθəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a youth beloved of Apollo and inadvertently killed by him. At the spot where the youth died, Apollo caused a flower to grow

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Example Sentences

The hyacinth is another flower with a myth attached: Hyacinthus was a Greek youth beloved of Apollo, who killed him accidentally.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 7, 2019

The excellent Arnold Muhren revealed in a match programme that his full name was Arnoldus Johannes Hyacinthus Muehren.

From The Guardian • Jan. 4, 2011

Juvenal railed bitterly against flirtatious Roman ladies in whose eyes any gladiator, however ugly, was "transformed into a Hyacinthus."

From Time Magazine Archive

Euripides gives the best account of the festival of Hyacinthus; Apollodorus and Ovid both tell his story.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Hyacinthus, they would say, died not slaughtered by his kinsfolk to get food for them, but only because of a sorrowful mistake.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton