Myrrha

Myrrha (; Ancient Greek: Μύρρα, romanized: Mýrrha), also known as Smyrna (Ancient Greek: Σμύρνα, romanized: Smýrna), is the mother of Adonis in Greek mythology. She was transformed into a myrrh tree after having coitus with her father, and gave birth — in tree form — to Adonis. Although the tale of Adonis has Semitic roots, it is uncertain where the myth of Myrrha originated, though it probably came from Cyprus. The myth details the incestuous relationship between Myrrha and her father, Cinyras. Myrrha falls in love with her father and tricks him into sexual intercourse. After discovering her identity, Cinyras draws his sword and pursues Myrrha. She flees across Arabia and, after nine months, turns to the gods for help. They take pity on her and transform her into a myrrh tree. While in plant form, Myrrha gives birth to Adonis. According to legend, the aromatic exudate of the myrrh tree are Myrrha's tears. The most familiar form of the myth occurs in the Metamorphoses of Ovid, and the story was the subject of the most famous work (now lost) of the poet Helvius Cinna (d. 44 BCE). Several alternate versions appeared in the Bibliotheca, the Fabulae of Hyginus, and the Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis, with major variations depicting Myrrha's father as the Lebanese king Theias or depicting Aphrodite as having engineered the tragic liaison. Critical interpretation of the myth has considered Myrrha's refusal of conventional sexual relations to have provoked her incest, with the ensuing transformation to tree as a silencing punishment. It has been suggested that the taboo of incest marks the difference between culture and nature and that Ovid's version of Myrrha showed this. One interpretation of the 1700 translation of Ovid's Myrrha-account by English poet John Dryden sees it as a metaphor for Britain's Glorious Revolution...