HYACINTH

hyacinth, or jacinth, in mineralogy, a variety of zircon (q.v.) of yellowish red colour, used as a gem-stone. the _hyacinthus_ of ancient writers must have been our sapphire, or blue corundum, while the hyacinth of modern mineralogists may have been the stone known as _lyncurium_ ([greek: lynkourion]). the hebrew word _leshem_, translated ligure in the authorized version (ex. xxviii. 19), from the [greek: ligyrion] of the septuagint, appears in the revised version as jacinth, but with a marginal alternative of amber. both jacinth and amber may be reddish yellow, but their identification is doubtful. as our jacinth (zircon) is not known in ancient egyptian work, professor flinders petrie has suggested that the _leshem_ may have been a yellow quartz, or perhaps agate. some old english writers describe the jacinth as yellow, whilst others refer to it as a blue stone, and the _hyacinthus_ of some authorities seems undoubtedly to have been our sapphire. in rev. xx. 20 the revised version retains the word jacinth, but gives sapphire as an alternative. most of the gems known in trade as hyacinth are only garnets--generally the deep orange-brown hessonite or cinnamon-stone--and many of the antique engraved stones reputed to be hyacinth are probably garnets. the difference may be detected optically, since the garnet is singly and the hyacinth doubly refracting; moreover the specific gravity affords a simple means of diagnosis, that of garnet being only about 3.7, whilst hyacinth may have a density as high as 4.7. again, it was shown many years ago by sir a. h. church that most hyacinths, when examined by the spectroscope, show a series of dark absorption bands, due perhaps to the presence of some rare element such as uranium or erbium. hyacinth is not a common mineral. it occurs, with other zircons, in the gem-gravels of ceylon, and very fine stones have been found as pebbles at mudgee in new south wales. crystals of zircon, with all the typical characters of hyacinth, occur at expailly, le puy-en-velay, in central france, but they are not large enough for cutting. the stones which have been called compostella hyacinths are simply ferruginous quartz from santiago de compostella in spain. (f. w. r.*) hyacinthus,[1] in greek mythology, the youngest son of the spartan king amyclas, who reigned at amyclae (so pausanias iii. 1. 3, iii. 19. 5; and apollodorus i. 3. 3, iii. 10. 3). other stories make him son of oebalus, of eurotas, or of pierus and the nymph clio (see hyginus, _fabulae_, 271; lucian, _de saltatione_, 45, and _dial. deor._ 14). according to the general story, which is probably late and composite, his great beauty attracted the love of apollo, who killed him accidentally when teaching him to throw the _discus_ (quoit); others say that zephyrus (or boreas) out of jealousy deflected the quoit so that it hit hyacinthus on the head and killed him. according to the representation on the tomb at amyclae (pausanias, _loc. cit._) hyacinthus was translated into heaven with his virgin sister polyboea. out of his blood there grew the flower known as the hyacinth, the petals of which were marked with the mournful exclamation ai, ai, "alas" (cf. "that sanguine flower inscribed with woe"). this greek hyacinth cannot have been the flower which now bears the name: it has been identified with a species of iris and with the larkspur (_delphinium aiacis_), which appear to have the markings described. the greek hyacinth was also said to have sprung from the blood of ajax. evidently the greek authorities confused both the flowers and the traditions. the death of hyacinthus was celebrated at amyclae by the second most important of spartan festivals, the hyacinthia, which took place in the spartan month hecatombeus. what month this was is not certain. arguing from xenophon (_hell._ iv. 5) we get may; assuming that the spartan hecatombeus is the attic hecatombaion, we get july; or again it may be the attic scirophorion, june. at all events the hyacinthia was an early summer festival. it lasted three days, and the rites gradually passed from mourning for hyacinthus to rejoicings in the majesty of apollo, the god of light and warmth, and giver of the ripe fruits of the earth (see a passage from polycrates, _laconica_, quoted by athenaeus 139 d; criticized by l. r. farnell, _cults of the greek states_, iv. 266 foll.). this festival is clearly connected with vegetation, and marks the passage from the youthful verdure of spring to the dry heat of summer and the ripening of the corn. the precise relation which apollo bears to hyacinthus is obscure. the fact that at tarentum a hyacinthus tomb is ascribed by polybius to apollo hyacinthus (not hyacinthius) has led some to think that the personalities are one, and that the hero is merely an emanation from the god; confirmation is sought in the apolline appellation [greek: tetracheir], alleged by hesychius to have been used in laconia, and assumed to describe a composite figure of apollo-hyacinthus. against this theory is the essential difference between the two figures. hyacinthus is a chthonian vegetation god whose worshippers are afflicted and sorrowful; apollo, though interested in vegetation, is never regarded as inhabiting the lower world, his death is not celebrated in any ritual, his worship is joyous and triumphant, and finally the amyclean apollo is specifically the god of war and song. moreover, pausanias describes the monument at amyclae as consisting of a rude figure of apollo standing on an altar-shaped base which formed the tomb of hyacinthus. into the latter offerings were put for the hero before gifts were made to the god. on the whole it is probable that hyacinthus belongs originally to the pre-dorian period, and that his story was appropriated and woven into their own apollo myth by the conquering dorians. possibly he may be the apotheosis of a pre-dorian king of amyclae. j. g. frazer further suggests that he may have been regarded as spending the winter months in the underworld and returning to earth in the spring when the "hyacinth" blooms. in this case his festival represents perhaps both the dorian conquest of amyclae and the death of spring before the ardent heat of the summer sun, typified as usual by the _discus_ (quoit) with which apollo is said to have slain him. with the growth of the hyacinth from his blood should be compared the oriental stories of violets springing from the blood of attis, and roses and anemones from that of adonis. as a youthful vegetation god, hyacinthus may be compared with linus and scephrus, both of whom are connected with apollo agyieus. see l. r. farnell, _cults of the greek states_, vol. iv. (1907), pp. 125 foll., 264 foll.; j. g. frazer, _adonis, attis, osiris_ (1906), bk. ii. ch. 7; s. wide, _lakonische kulte_, p. 290; e. rhode, _psyche_, 3rd ed. i. 137 foll.; roscher, _lexikon d. griech. u. rom. myth._, s.v. "hyakinthos" (greve); l. preller, _griechische mythol._ 4th ed. i. 248 foll. (j. m. m.) footnote: [1] the word is probably derived from an indo-european root, meaning "youthful," found in latin, greek, english and sanskrit. some have suggested that the first two letters are from [greek: uein], to rain, (cf. hyades). hyades ("the rainy ones"), in greek mythology, the daughters of atlas and aethra; their number varies between two and seven. as a reward for having brought up zeus at dodona and taken care of the infant dionysus hyes, whom they conveyed to ino (sister of his mother semele) at thebes when his life was threatened by lycurgus, they were translated to heaven and placed among the stars (hyginus, _poet. astron._ ii. 21). another form of the story combines them with the pleiades. according to this they were twelve (or fifteen) sisters, whose brother hyas was killed by a snake while hunting in libya (ovid, _fasti_, v. 165; hyginus, _fab._ 192). they lamented him so bitterly that zeus, out of compassion, changed them into stars--five into the hyades, at the head of the constellation of the bull, the remainder into the pleiades. their name is derived from the fact that the rainy season commenced when they rose at the same time as the sun (may 7-21); the original conception of them is that of the fertilizing principle of moisture. the romans derived the name from [greek: us] (pig), and translated it by _suculae_ (cicero, _de nat. deorum_, ii. 43).