Classical Mythology

178 THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS

the ritual of my grief performed. But your blood will be transformed into a

flower. O Persephone, you were allowed at one time to change the limbs of the

maiden Mentha into the fragrant mint—will I be begrudged then the transfor-

mation of my hero, the son of Cinyras?"

With these words she sprinkled fragrant nectar on his blood which, at the

touch of the drops, began to swell just like a gleaming bubble in the rain. In no

longer than an hour's time a flower sprang from the blood, red as the thick skin

of the fruit of the pomegranate that hides the seeds within. Yet the flower is of

brief enjoyment for the winds (which give it its name, anemone) blow upon it;

with difficulty it clings to life and falls under the blasts and buffeting.

Ovid's story predicts the rites associated with the worship of Adonis in-

volving ceremonial wailing and the singing of dirges over the effigy of the dead

Venus Discovering the Dead Adonis, by a Neapolitan follower of José de Ribera (1591-1652).

Oil on canvas, ca. 1650; 721 /2 X 94 in. Whereas Veronese shows Venus and Adonis be-

fore the tragedy, Ribera's follower represents Ovid's narrative of Venus descending from

her dove-drawn chariot to mourn over her dead lover. The scene is full of dramatic emo-

tion, focused by brilliant light on the gesture of Venus and the body of Adonis and am-

plified by the brooding figure of a shepherd on the right and the animals in the corners—

Adonis' hound and the unyoked doves of Venus. (© The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr.

and Mrs. William H. Mariait Fund, 65.19.)