History of Monsters. 202 Ulysses Aldrovandi

Among these trees was also the Cypress, once a most handsome youth named Cyparissus. After he accidentally killed a beloved, tall stag, he was overcome with such grief that he wished to end his life with a sword. Apollo, however, transformed him into the Cypress tree.

The Cypress was there in that crowd, mimicking the shape of a turning post—now a tree, but once a boy beloved by that god who tunes the strings of the lyre and the strings of the bow.

Then Orpheus began to recount the love with which the gods above once pursued young boys. He told first how Jupiter was seized by such a contagion of love for Ganymede, the son of Tros, king of the Dardanians, that he turned himself into an eagle and snatched the boy up to heaven to be his divine cupbearer.

The King of the gods once burned with love for Phrygian Ganymede, and a form was found that Jupiter preferred to be rather than what he was; yet he deigned to turn into no bird except the one that carries his thunderbolts to the earth.

Hyacinthus, too, the son of Amyclas, would have been carried to the celestial realms by Apollo had he not perished from the weight of a discus. Therefore, to honor him, Phoebus changed his corpse into a flower of the same name.

Behold the blood, which, poured upon the ground, had stained the grass, ceases to be blood; and a flower rises more brilliant than Tyrian purple, taking the same shape as a lily, though their color is silver while this is crimson. This was not enough for Phoebus—for he was the author of this honor—he himself inscribed his groans upon the petals, and the flower has "Ai Ai" written upon it, traced as a mournful letter.

Orpheus continued, suggesting through many arguments that beautiful boys were pleasing to the gods and an ornament to their cities, while conversely, women were hateful to the gods and brought disgrace to their communities. He demonstrated this with the example of the Propoetides, who, by denying that Venus was a goddess, became not only hateful to their fellow citizens but were also turned into stone by Venus.

Yet the obscene Propoetides dared to deny that Venus was a goddess.

Terrified by the shameful conduct of these women, Pygmalion embraced a life of total chastity. Since he was an extraordinary sculptor, he carved an ivory statue of a maiden so elegantly that he fell passionately in love with it. Venus granted his wish by turning the statue into a living woman.

He seeks the image of his own girl; the ivory softens under his touch and, laying aside its hardness, yields to his fingers. While he stands amazed, joyfully doubting and fearing he is deceived, it was a body; the veins throbbed under his testing thumb.

By this woman, Pygmalion fathered children, namely Paphos and Cingias. The latter would have enjoyed remarkable happiness had he not fathered Myrrha. She was tormented by an unspeakable love for her father and, with the help of her nurse, lay with him without his knowledge. When her father discovered the truth, he took up a sword and pursued his daughter all the way to Arabia, where, by the mercy of the gods, she was transformed into the tree that drips myrrh.

And she submerged her face in the bark; although she lost her former senses along with her body, she still weeps, and warm drops flow from the tree.

Since Myrrha was pregnant, Adonis was later born from that tree. He was endowed with such elegant beauty and charming physical gifts that Venus fell passionately in love with him. While the boy was intent on hunting, she persuaded him to take extraordinary care against wild beasts. To better impress this upon his mind, she used the example of Atalanta and Hippomenes. Through the help of Venus, Hippomenes had won Atalanta, the daughter of King Schoeneus, whom no one could outrun, by the trickery of the golden apples. Later, however, he was ungrateful for the favor received and gave no thanks to Venus. Wherefore Venus