Acantha (
Ancient Greek: Ἀκάνθα,
romanized: Akántha,
lit. 'thorn'[1]) is often claimed to be a minor character in
Greek mythology whose metamorphosis was the origin of the Acanthus plant.[2] Acantha's myth however does not appear in any classical source.[3]
Mythology
The tale supposedly goes that Acantha was a
nymph loved by the god
Apollo. Acantha, however, rebuffed
Apollo's continued advances and scratched his face. As a result, Apollo transformed her into the Acanthus, a plant with spiny leaves.[4]
Origin of the myth
The story has, over the years, been retold in books,[5][6] encyclopedias,[2][7] and journals.[8] Compilers have, however, often omitted reference to classical sources. For instance the first edition of
John Lemprière'sBibliotheca Classica, an early encyclopaedia of mythological figures, provides no reference for the story.[9] In the updated 1839 edition three references are given. These are to
Pliny the Elder'sNatural History,
Pedanius Dioscorides' De Materia Medica and
Hesychius of Alexandria'sLexicon.[10] On inspection, however, Pliny makes absolutely no reference to Acantha, Dioscorides refers only to the plant and Hesychius simply explains what the word means.[11][12][13] A number of latter compilers have similarly not cited classical references when retelling the myth.[2][4][5][7]
Acantha's tale has lifted elements from the myth of
Oenone, a nymph who scratched Apollo's face while he raped her, as attested in the poem Fasti by the Roman poet
Ovid; that text however has been extended with various spurious post-Ovidian interpolations, and Oenone's rape is, like Acantha herself, otherwise unattested.[24][25] According to
Cicero a woman named Acantho became the mother of the "fourth
sun" in
Rhodes.[26]
^Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. pg.33.
ISBN0521685532.
^
abEvslin, Bernard (2012). Gods, Demigods and Demons: An Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology. Open Road Media. Acantha.
ISBN1453272968
^Mackay, Charles (1861), A Weekly Journal of Fact and Fiction, Volumes 1-13, pg.353
^Lemprière, John (1788). Bibliotheca Classica. T. Cadell. Acantha
^Lemprière, John (1839). A Classical Dictionary, Containing a Copious Account of All the Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors. Available at
books.google.co.uk