Hymnus (Greek mythology)
{{short description|Shepherd in the Dionysiaca}}
In Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Hymnus ({{langx|grc|Ὕμνος|Húmnos|hymn}}) is a young shepherd who fell in love with the nymph Nicaea,Grimal, s.v. [https://archive.org/details/concisedictionar00grim/page/208/mode/2up?view=theater Hymnus] was rejected by her, and ended up dying by her hand.
Mythology
Hymnus ("hymn") was a young shepherd whom Eros, the god of love, made fall in love with a nymph named Nicaea with a single arrow; Nicaea however was a virgin who wished to remain unmarried, and shunned all possible suitors.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/516/mode/2up?view=theater 15.202-229] One day, a lovesick and desperate Hymnus stole Nicaea's hunting gear, her arrows, her nets, her lance, and quiver, lamenting his misfortune. Nicaea caught him in the action, and he pressured her to shoot him in the heart, so that he might be freed from the soreness of unrequited love. Angered with him, Nicaea obliged and fulfilled with his wish.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/522/mode/2up?view=theater 15.290]-[https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/528/mode/2up?view=theater 369] Hymnus was greatly mourned; Adrasteia, a goddess of justice, alerted Aphrodite and Eros of Nicaea's deeds.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/528/mode/2up?view=theater 15.393-395] Eros then found Dionysus, and shoot him with one of his love arrows, which made Dionysus fall in love with Nicaea, and would culminate in the nymph's rape by him.Nonnus, Dionysiaca [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca02nonnuoft/page/n17/mode/2up?view=theater 16.1–21]
Hymnus only appears in Nonnus' late rendition of the myth; he is not mentioned in the account of Memnon of Heraclea, a native of Bithynia (the region where the city of Nicaea was) who also recorded the story of Nicaea's rape by Dionysus.Memnon of Heraclea, History of Heraclea book 15, as epitomized by Photius in his Myriobiblon [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_06bibliotheca.htm 223.28]
See also
References
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Bibliography
- Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}.
- Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca. 3 Vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940-1942. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0485 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
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