[Libanius], Stories 2: Hyacinthus

In Vol. 8 of Foerster’s Teubner edition of Libanius are a number of brief summaries of mythological stories. Here’s one of them.

ἀκούεις ἄνθος ὑάκινθον; τοῦτο ἦν πάλαι μειράκιον Ἀμυκλαῖον ὡραῖόν τε καὶ καλόν. ἐρασταὶ δὲ ἐγένοντο αὐτοῦ δύο, Ζέφυρός τε καὶ ὁ Λητοῦς. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐχαρίζετο τῷ θεῷ, βουλεύει φόνον ὁ Ζέφυρος ἐπ’ αὐτῷ καὶ τηρήσας ἀφίεντα δίσκον, ἐπαιδεύετο γὰρ Ὑάκινθος Ἀπόλλωνι τὰ τοιαῦτα, πνεῖ τε ἀπὸ τοῦ Ταϋγέτου καὶ περιτρέπει τῷ μειρακίῳ τὴν βολήν. καὶ τὸ μὲν ἔκειτο, ἡ δὲ Γῆ ἐλεεῖ τὸ πάθος καὶ ἀνῆκε τὸ ἄνθος.

Have you heard of the hyacinth flower? Long ago it used to be a young man of Amyclae, in the prime of his life and handsome. He had two lovers, Zephyrus [the West Wind] and the son of Leto [Apollo]. Since Hyacinthus was granting his favours to the god, Zephyrus wished death upon him; he watched him throwing the discus – for Hyacinthus was being taught this sort of thing by Apollo – and, blowing from Mount Taygetus, he diverted the flight of the discus towards the young man. It struck Hyacinthus down, but Earth took pity on his suffering and caused the flower to grow.