Crocus was unhappy with his love affair with the
nymphSmilax, and he was turned by the gods into a plant bearing his name, the crocus (
saffron). Smilax is believed to have been given a similar fate and transformed into
bindweed.[2][3][4]
In another variation of the myth, Crocus was said to be a companion of
Hermes and was accidentally killed by the god in a game of
discus when he unexpectedly stood up. As the unfortunate youth's blood dripped on the soil, the saffron flower came to be.[5][6][7] The myth is similar to that of
Apollo and
Hyacinthus, and may indeed be a variation or modelled after it thereof.[7]
In his translation of
Nonnos' Dionysiaca,
W.H.D. Rouse describes the tale of Crocus as being from the late Classical period and little-known.[8]
^In: Nonnos, Dionysiaca. With an English translation by W. H. D. Rouse. Volume I, books I - XV. Cambridge - Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1940, p. 404
References
Grimal, Pierre. A Concise Dictionary of Classical mythology. Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1990. - p. 109