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MIRRA. Myrrha was the daughter of Cinyras, king of Cyprus, and great-granddaughter of Pygmalion. Her mother boasted that Myrrha was more beautiful than Venus herself, and for such presumption, Venus caused Myrrha to fall in love with her father. With her nurse's help, she managed to take her mother's place in her father's bed and conceived Adonis. When Cinyras discovered this deed, he chased his daughter out of his palace and pursued her with his sword. As she fled, she prayed the gods to deliver her, and she became the myrrh tree. Her tears became myrrh that the tree distilled, hence her name (Met X.298-518; OM X.1080-1959; RR 21121-21214).

The tears of Troilus and Criseyde are compared with Mirra's tears, Tr IV.1139. [Adoon: Pigmalion: Venus]

The form appears medially.


Ovid, Met, ed. and trans. F.J. Miller, II: 84-101; OM, ed. C. de Boer, IV, deel 37: 37-58; RR, ed. E. Langlois, V: 73-75; RR, trans. C. Dahlberg, 345-346.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.

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