Cyparissus


Cyparissus

 

in ancient Greek mythology, a beautiful youth and a favorite of the god Apollo.

Accidentally killing his favorite deer, Cyparissus fell into such deep mourning that in order to end his suffering Apollo turned him into a cypress tree, which thus became a symbol of grief (for this reason the cypress was traditionally planted in cemeteries). According to another version of the myth, Cyparissus turned into a tree in order to escape the pursuing Apollo (in other variants, the pursuing Zephyrus).