Myrrha
In
Greek mythology,
Myrrha was the daughter of
Theias,
the King of
Assyria, and
mother of Adonis by him. Two different versions of
Adonis'
birth existed.
- The most commonly accepted version is that Aphrodite
urged Myrrha to commit incest with her father, Theias. Myrrha's nurse helped with
the scheme. When Theias discovered this, he flew into a rage, chasing his daughter
with a knife. The gods turned her into a myrrh
tree and Adonis eventually sprung from this tree.
- It was also said that
Myrrha fled from her father and Aphrodite turned her into a tree. Adonis was then
born when Theias shot an arrow into the tree or when a boar used its tusks to
tear the tree's bark off.
In biology,
Myrrha is a genus of
ladybird beetle.
