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| Greek deities series |
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| Nymphs |
InGreek mythology,Byblis orBublis(Ancient Greek: Βυβλίς) was a daughter ofMiletus. Her mother was eitherTragasia, daughter ofCelaenus;[1]Cyanee, daughter of the river-godMeander;[2] orEidothea, daughter of KingEurytus ofCaria.[3] She fell in love withCaunus, hertwin brother.
The most elaborate interpretation of her story is that ofOvid, and runs as follows.[2] Byblis acknowledged her love for Caunus, and despite her initial efforts to convince herself that her feelings were natural, she realized the inappropriateness of them. Unable to keep her love for Caunus a secret from him any longer, she sent him a long love letter through a servant giving examples of other incestuous relationships between the gods. Disgusted, he ran away. Believing that she could yet make him love her, she was determined to try to woo him once more. When she found out that he had fled, she tore her clothes and stripped naked in sorrow and was driven into madness. She followed him through much of Greece andAsia Minor until she finally died, worn out by her grief and the long journey. As she had been constantly crying, she was changed into a spring.
Parthenius of Nicaea[1] cites two versions of Byblis' story, one of which is generally the same as that recounted by Ovid, but ends with Byblis hanging herself with her girdle. In the other version, it is Caunus who instigates the incest, but Byblis still seems to return his affection; Caunus then leaves home before he can lose control over his desires, and Byblis, after a long search for him, makes a noose of her garment and hangs herself. The same version is followed byConon.[4]
Antoninus Liberalis again portrays Byblis as overcome with unanswered love for her brother; after Caunus leaves, she rejects the proposals of numerous suitors and attempts to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff, but is saved byhamadryads, who cause her to fall asleep and transform her into a fellow nymph.[3]
Nonnus depicts Byblis, Caunos and Miletus as the children ofAsterius, son ofMinos and Androgeneia. In this account, Caunus romantically pursues Byblis with a love song referencing the incestuous relationships between the gods.[5]
All the authors make mention of a spring which was believed to have appeared from Byblis' incessant tears.
The cityByblos inPhoenicia was believed to have taken its name from Byblis.[6]
Between 1706 and 1715, the sculptorPierre Le Gros the Younger, working inRome, was faced with therestoration of a fragmented antique group ofAmor and Psyche for the Portugueseambassador. Thriving on invention, he turned the love story on its head and depicted the theme ofCaunus and Byblis in which Caunus vehemently defends himself against the sexual advances of his sister. While Le Gros' invention ended up in Germany and was purified back toAmor and Psyche before being destroyed in a fire in 1931, it triggered a rafter of drawings, reproductions and copies by for examplePompeo Batoni,Francesco Carradori,Martin Gottlieb Klauer and, best known of all, two marble versions byLaurent Delvaux. The most faithful impression of what Le Gros' invention looked like is aplaster cast inTiefurt House nearWeimar.[7]
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