# The anemone and Zephyrus in Greek myth

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anemone-and-zephyrus-in-greek-myth/568067>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 18, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anemone-and-zephyrus-in-greek-myth/568067 "2011-01-18T13:37:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anemone-and-zephyrus-in-greek-myth/568067/1 "2011-01-18T13:37:14Z")

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Wherefrom comes the Greek story I’ve seen repeated in many variations that Anemone was a nymph at Flora’s court, who fell in love in Zephyr and was banished to be turned into a flower. It sounds typically Ovid’ian by I can’t find it in there, or in any other Greek source.

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**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anemone-and-zephyrus-in-greek-myth/568067/2 "2011-01-18T17:55:57Z")

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If I remember Edith Hamilton’s _Mythology_ correctly, Rune, Zephyrus & Apollo were both in love with the same youth. I think the youth preferred Apollo. During a discus competition, Zephryus blew on a discus – I cannot remember whether it was to help a competitor or to commit murder – and it struck the youth, causing a wound beyond Apollo’s skill to heal. Anemones sprang up from the blood.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anemone-and-zephyrus-in-greek-myth/568067/3 "2011-01-18T18:29:08Z")

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> [@Rune](#):
>
> It sounds typically Ovid’ian by I can’t find it in there, or in any other Greek source.

Ovid wrote in Latin, not Greek.

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**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anemone-and-zephyrus-in-greek-myth/568067/4 "2011-01-18T20:40:00Z")

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> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#):
>
> If I remember Edith Hamilton’s _Mythology_ correctly, Rune, Zephyrus & Apollo were both in love with the same youth. I think the youth preferred Apollo. During a discus competition, Zephryus blew on a discus – I cannot remember whether it was to help a competitor or to commit murder – and it struck the youth, causing a wound beyond Apollo’s skill to heal. Anemones sprang up from the blood.

That was hyacint. I suspect that the story with the anemone is actually a later misunderstanding of this one, but not found in the ancient mythology. It’s just that I have found it mentioned so many places, incl. by people like Erasmus Darwin.

> [@Quartz](#):
>
> Ovid wrote in Latin, not Greek.

Yes, but I think only one of his stories are of Roman mythology. The rest are Greek mythology.