Acantha (Ancient Greek:Ἀκάνθα,romanized: Akántha,lit. 'thorn'^[1]) is often claimed to be a minor character inGreek mythology whose metamorphosis was the origin of theAcanthus plant.^[2] Acantha's myth however does not appear in any classical source.^[3]

The tale supposedly goes that Acantha was anymph loved by the godApollo. Acantha, however, rebuffedApollo's continued advances and scratched his face. As a result, Apollo transformed her into the Acanthus, a plant with spiny leaves.^[4]

The story has, over the years, been retold in books,^[5][6] encyclopedias,^[2][7] and journals.^[8] Compilers have, however, often omitted reference to classical sources. For instance, the first edition ofJohn Lemprière'sBibliotheca Classica, an early encyclopaedia of mythological figures, provides no reference for the story.^[9] In the updated 1839 edition three references are given. These are toPliny the Elder'sNatural History,Pedanius Dioscorides'De Materia Medica andHesychius of Alexandria'sLexicon.^[10] On inspection, however, Pliny makes absolutely no reference to Acantha, Dioscorides refers only to the plant and Hesychius simply explains what the word means.^[11][12][13] A number of latter compilers have similarly not cited classical references when retelling the myth.^[2][4][5][7]

The myth does not appear in theThesaurus Linguae Latinae,^[14] a volume which includes every Latin word, including proper names.^[15] TheThesaurus Linguae Graecae, a similarly comprehensive source containing a complete repository of Ancient Greek texts fromHomer through to A.D. 200,^[16] is also absent the myth.^[17] The story is not present in either theLexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae,^[18] a work praised for its breadth and quality,^[19][20] orDer Neue Pauly,^[21] an encyclopaedia considered an unparalleled masterpiece of classical German scholarship.^[22][23]

Acantha's tale has lifted elements from the myth ofOenone, a nymph who scratched Apollo's face while he raped her, as attested in the poemFasti by the Roman poetOvid; that text however has been extended with various spurious post-Ovidian interpolations, and Oenone's rape is, like Acantha herself, otherwise unattested.^[24][25] According toCicero a woman named Acantho became the mother of the "fourthsun" inRhodes.^[26]

• Fakelore
• Nymphs

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