星期四, 11月 29, 1984

H a m a d r y a s & H a m a d r y a d s

Eight Hamadryads /hæ məˈdraɪ əd/, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas:

Karya (Walnut, Juglans or Hazelnut, Corylus)
Balanos (Oak)
Kraneia (Dogwood)
Morea (Mulberry)
Aigeiros (Black Poplar)
Ptelea (Elm, Ulmus)
Ampelos (Vines, especially Vitis)
Syke (Fig)

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Jérôme Smith Ju 朱 提到...

White Poplar, Populus alba:
In Greco-Roman mythology, Leuce or Leuka ("White" or specifically "White Poplar") was the most beautiful of the nymphs and a daughter of Oceanus. Pluto fell in love with her and abducted her to the underworld. She lived out the span of her life in his realm, and when she died, the god sought consolation by creating a suitable memorial of their love: in the Elysian Fields where the pious(篤信神的) spend their afterlife, he brought a white tree into existence. It was this tree with which Heracles crowned himself to celebrate his return from the underworld.

Black Poplar, Populus nigra:
Apollo seduced Dryope by a trick. Dryope had been accustomed to play with the hamadryads of the woods on Mount Oeta. Apollo chased her, and in order to win her favours turned himself into a tortoise, of which the girls made a pet. When Dryope had the tortoise on her lap, he turned into a snake. She tried to flee, but he coiled around her legs and held her arms tightly against her sides as he raped her. The nymphs then abandoned her, and she eventually gave birth to her son Amphissus. She married Andraemon. Amphissus eventually built a temple to his father Apollo in the city of Oeta, which he founded. Here the nymphs came to converse with Dryope, who had become a priestess of the temple, but one day Apollo again returned in the form of a serpent and coiled around her while she stood by a spring. This time Dryope was turned into a black poplar tree.

Or, in Ovid's version of the story, Dryope was wandering by a lake, suckling her baby Amphissus, when she saw the bright red flowers of the lotus tree*, formerly the nymph Lotis who, when fleeing from Priapus, had been changed into a tree. Dryope wanted to give the blossoms to her baby to play with, but when she picked one the tree started to tremble and bleed. She tried to run away, but the blood of the tree had touched her skin and she found her feet rooted to the spot. She slowly began to turn into a black poplar.

*lotus tree: date-plum (Diospyros lotus) or jujube (Ziziphus lotus)