Why is hyacinth called hyacinth?

1. Reasons

Hyacinthus is not a native flower of China, but a colorful flower native to the northeastern Mediterranean. Its cultivation history can be traced back to the 15th century. The name of hyacinth comes from the beautiful Greek mythology. Because a beautiful flower grew in the blood of the boy Apollo loved, the flower was named after him - Hyacinthus, which literally means "hyacinth".

2. Legend

Legend has it that the handsome young man Hyacinthus was a close friend of the sun god Apollo, and the west wind god Jeffreys also favored the beautiful boy and was often jealous of him.

Once, when he and Apollo were throwing discus on the grassland, they were discovered by Jeffreys who was hiding in the bushes. Jealousy made him lose his mind. When Apollo threw the discus to Hyacinthus, the god of the west wind quietly adjusted the wind direction, causing the discus to hit Hyacinthus heavily on the forehead. The boy immediately fell to the ground. When Apollo arrived, he had already fallen in a pool of his own blood. Apollo hugged his friend and cried bitterly.

After a while, he found that many clusters of purple flowers grew where Hyacinthus' blood flowed. In order to commemorate his friend, the sun god named the flower Hyacinthus, which literally means "hyacinth" in Chinese.

Since then, purple hyacinth has come to mean jealousy and apology. At the same time, it is homophonic with the Greek word for "forever", so it also means eternal remembrance.