Saddest Love Stories Of Greek Mythology | Greek Mythology Explained

Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful Spartan prince, whose name was Hyacinth, and who was loved by the sun god, Apollo. Hyacinth was not only loved by Apollo, but also by the god of the west wind, Zephyrus, the god of the north wind, Boreas, and a mortal man named Thamurus. However, out of all his many lovers, Hyacinth chose Apollo, the one whose beauty perfectly matched his. The young man would always accompany the young god to all his sacred places in his golden chariot, and Apollo taught him how to use the bow, how to play the lyre, the art of prophecy, and exercises to stay fit and attractive. On a fateful day, Apollo was teaching Hyacinth the game of koit, and they took turns to throw the discus. The god of the west wind, Zephyrus, came up on them, and asked to join in on the game, to which they agreed. But Zephyrus was not there for the fun of the game. He was still bitter that Hyacinth rejected him, and chose Apollo instead. He was there to punish Hyacinth. With such might that it slipped the clouds in the sky, Apollo threw the discus, and Hyacinth ran to catch it, in an attempt to impress Apollo. But in a way that seemed unintentional, Zephyrus blew the discus back wildly, that it hit Hyacinth on his head. The force of the blow instantly killing him. Turning pale in horror, Apollo held his dying lover in his arms, as he breathed his last. He tried using his powers to heal him, all to no avail. He tried giving Ambrosia to heal his wounds, but it was too late. Hyacinth was already dead. Some say they were wounds inflicted by the fates, and so could not be cured. Apollo wept in sorrow, at the loss of his lover. He felt utterly powerless at that moment. His medicinal skills proved useless. There was nothing he could do. He promised to always remember Hyacinth in the music of his lyre, and from Hyacinth's spilled blood, he created a flower of the same name, the Hyacinth. This is how the Hyacinth flower came to be. Once upon a time, a talkative nymph called Echo, distracted Hera on behalf of Zeus, by chattering at her, while Zeus was on one of his many extramarital affairs. She kept Hera busy, until Zeus finished, but she should have known, that nothing could be kept secret from the Queen of the Gods, for too long. When Hera learned of the plot, she placed a curse on Echo, that she would only be able to say the last words, that had been spoken before. She would not be able to say anything of her own. She would only repeat the last words of others, thenceforth. One day, while walking in the woods, Echo saw a beautiful young man, whom she fell in love with. His name was Narcissus, and he had gone on a deer-hunting expedition, with his peers. Echo quietly stalked him. The more she looked at him, the more her heart yearned for him. She wished to say his name, to call out for him, but she could not, for she had been cursed not to say a word of her own. Sadly, Narcissus was an extremely vain and pompous youth, so self-absorbed and self-obsessed, that he spurned all advances made towards him, because he deemed them all, unfit and inferior for a man of his beauty. During the hunt, Narcissus lost his way, and got separated from his friends. He called out for them, only to hear his words, repeated by a strange voice. Startled, Narcissus demanded to know whose voice it was, but it only kept repeating his words. Finally, he called out to the strange voice, to come to him, and Echo, thinking he was reciprocating her love, joyously ran out of the bush to embrace him. But Narcissus barked at her to get her hands off him, and pushed her away. May I die before you enjoy my body, he said scornfully. Deeply pained by this rejection, Echo fled back into the forest in shame. She kept repeating his last words, enjoy my body, and still kept stalking him, but away from sight this time. One fateful day, the goddess of vengeance and karma, Nemesis, attracted Narcissus to a pool of water. The gods had had enough of his vanity. On looking into the water, Narcissus immediately fell in love with his own reflection, not realizing it was just a reflection, just an image. In an attempt to join this beautiful man he saw in the pool, he jumped into the water, and was drowned. After the death of Narcissus, Echo too began to fade away. Her beauty faded, her skin wasted, and her bones turned to stones. All that remains of this once lovely nymph, is the sound of her voice, an echo. Once upon a time, the warrior god of music and the sun, Apollo, mocked the young god of love, Eros, for the way he used his bow and arrow. As Apollo was a renowned archer, who also made use of a bow and arrow, for hunting and fighting, he taunted Eros, saying, What are you doing with powerful weapons, naughty boy? That equipment of yours is fitting of our shoulders. They are able to give wounds to animals, and to enemies, and we are the ones who know how to use it. I slew the swollen python, by piercing his disease bearing belly, with countless arrows, and all you can do with them, is to provoke some stupid loves. Come now little boy, leave the bow and arrow, to the warriors and hunters. Greatly insulted, Eros prepared two arrows, one of gold, that would cause one to fall in love, and one of lead, that would fill one with hatred. He shot Apollo with the golden arrow, instilling in him, an intense love for a river nymph called Daphne. And then shot Daphne, with the lead arrow, instilling in her, hatred for Apollo. Daphne, the daughter of the river god, Penias, was a river nymph, who greatly adored Apollo's sister, Artemis, and followed in her footsteps, striving to guard her virginity, and turning down her many lovers, preferring to explore the forests, and take part in woodland sports instead. Her father, Penias, initially demanded that she got married, and gave him grandchildren, but later succumbed to her incessant pleas, and allowed her be. Thus, it was such a bad stroke of luck for Daphne, when Apollo fell for her, continually pursuing her, wherever she went. Apollo kept begging her to stay, but she continued to reject him. However, Daphne could not outrun the god forever, and she knew this, that sooner or later, Apollo would catch up with her, and he had all the power to claim her. So Daphne called upon her father, help me, Penias, open the earth to swallow me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger. Let me be free of this man, from this moment forward. She prayed. Penias answered her plea, and Daphne's limbs were seized with a heavy numbness. A thin bark grew around her breasts, her hair changed into foliage, her arms changed into branches, and her feet were fastened to the earth by sluggish roots. She had turned into a laurel tree. Even though the tree was now all that was left of Daphne, Apollo would not forget her, vowing to honor her forever. Always, my hair will have you, my lyre will have you, and my quivers will have you. You shall forever wear the perpetual honors of your foliage, my beloved laurel tree. With that, Apollo bestowed upon Daphne eternal youth, rendering her evergreen. It is for this reason that the leaves of the bay laurel tree do not decay. Once upon a time, the titan goddess of dawn, Eos, fell in love with a very handsome Trojan prince named Tithonus. He was the son of Laomedon, king of Troy, and Strimo, daughter of the river, Scamander. The two lovers eloped to Ethiopia, where they had two sons, Emathion and Memnon. There, the lovely Eos visited the king god Zeus, and prayed to him to grant her lover Tithonus immortality. Zeus bowed his head and granted her prayer. Tithonus would live forever and would never die. But alas, Eos forgot to ask him to grant Tithonus eternal youth as well. Eos lived happily with her lover until loathsome old age began to press on him. Gray hairs appeared on his head and chin. He could not move nor lift his limbs. He grew old and withered, getting wrinklier, uglier, and more feeble, day by day, yet unable to die. To relieve him of his suffering, Tithonus would later be transformed into a cicada, to spend the rest of his immortal days. Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Thrace, the Thracian king, Oigris, and the muse, Calliope, had a son named Orpheus. When Orpheus was still very young, the god Apollo taught him how to play the lyre. By the time he reached adulthood, he had perfected the lyre and became the best musician there was. Whenever Orpheus played the lyre, all the animals came out to listen. His music made the stones and trees to dance. Once, Orpheus was playing his lyre, when he saw a very beautiful woman, whom he instantly fell in love with. The woman's name was Eurydice, and she also had fallen in love with the fine man playing the lyre. Before long, they got married. The couple lived in happiness and harmony for many years, until one fateful day, when Eurydice decided to take a stroll. She was walking in the forest, in the company of some nymphs, when a shepherd saw her and lusted after her. As the shepherd tried to rape her, she managed to break free and ran. However, while running, Eurydice stepped upon a poisonous snake, and was bitten by the serpent, causing her death. When Orpheus found his wife's body, it had gone cold. The snake's venom had long killed her. In his grief, Orpheus sang a long song of sorrow. Everything living and non-living was moved by his song, even the gods were deeply touched by his grief. Apollo then told him that only if he descended to Hades, would he be able to see his wife and bring her back. Orpheus was ready to do anything, so he agreed. No man entered or left the realm of Hades alive. But with the protection of the gods, and the guidance of Apollo, Orpheus did. He travelled to the gloomy underworld, to the Stygian realm, where he saw many souls of the dead, both known and unknown. With his music, Orpheus enchanted Cerberus, the three-headed guardian dog, which then allowed him to go on ahead, to the throne of the king of the dead, Hades, and his queen Persephone. Orpheus knelt at the feet of Hades, intensely pleading with the god, to let him take his wife back. But the heart of Hades was as cold as ice, and he was not moved in the slightest. Then, Orpheus began to play his lyre. He sang all the mournful songs ever known to him, so beautifully, that the hard heart of Hades softened. Hades allowed him to take Eurydice with him, but there was a condition. Orpheus would not look back at his wife, till they came into the light at the surface, or he would lose her forever. Eurydice's ghost would be walking behind him, and if Orpheus was patient enough, he would have her as his wife again, alive and normal. Orpheus thanked the god, and made his way out of the underworld. Surely, as Hades promised, Eurydice closely followed behind, waiting to come out to the light, to become flesh again. When they got close to the surface, Orpheus strained his ears to hear Eurydice's footsteps, but heard nothing. He began to think the gods had fooled him. In his doubt, he forgot that Eurydice was a ghost, just a shadow, and one could not hear the footsteps of a shadow. Alas, Orpheus turned to see if Eurydice was behind him. Indeed, she was behind him, but because he looked back, the ghost of Eurydice was drawn back to the underworld. She was gone forever. Orpheus tried to return to the underworld, but a man could not enter Hades twice while still alive. His impatience had cost him his wife a second time. Roaming the earth aimlessly, Orpheus wished for nothing but his own death. He wanted to join his wife in the underworld. In his sorrow, he shunned the worship of the gods, except Apollo, whom he continued to pray to. Orpheus again sang songs of sorrow, calling for his death. When the minads, the female followers of Dionysus, saw him, they began to throw stones and sticks at him for scorning Dionysus. But the stones and sticks refused to hit him, due to the music of the lyre. Furious, the women and beasts ripped Orpheus apart during their drunken dance ritual. But Orpheus' head refused to die. Still singing mournful songs, his head and lyre floated down the river to the island of Lesbos, where the people there buried his head and built a shrine in his honor. Apollo silenced the singing head afterward, and Orpheus' soul returned to the underworld, to the Elysian fields, where he was reunited with his beloved wife, Eurydice. This is the story of Orpheus.