Amyclas and his sons

Amyclas was the son of Lacedaemon and Sparta. Amyclas married Diomede, daughter of Lapithus and Orsinome. Amyclas became the father of Argalus, Cynortas, Hyacinthus and Leaneira.

Amyclas was said to have founded the city of Amyclae, near Sparta. Amyclae may have been important during the Bronze Age, but was reduced to village status in the 7th century BC. Its importance was that it was centre of the cult of Hyacinthus, a local god. Also, a festival was held each year to mark the occasion of his son's death.

At his death, Argalus succeeded Amyclas to the Spartan throne.

Cynortas

Cynorta was the son of Amyclas and Diomede, and the brother of Argalus, Hyacinthus and Leaneira. Argalus was his eldest brother, so Argalus ruled first until he had died, before Cynortas succeeded him.

Cynortas had a son named Oebalus. It is also possible that he had another son named Perieres, who became king of Messenia; however, some said that this Perieres was actually the son of Aeolus and Enarete. If this was the case, then the only link between the Aeolid Perieres and the Spartan Oebalus was that they both married Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus, with Oebalus being her second husband.

His reign was uneventful, and when Cynortas died, he was succeeded by his son Oebalus.

Hyacinthus

Hyacinthus (Hyacinth or ὘άκινθος) was even more famous than his father (Amyclas) and brothers (Argalus and Cynortas), despite having never ruled. In fact, his life was very short.

Some would say that Hyacinthus was actually the son of Pierus, king of Pella in Macedonia, and of the Muse Cleio. Or there could have been two of them with the same name, as Apollodorus listed both.

According to Apollodorus, the Spartan Hyacinthus migrated to Athens and had three daughters – Antheis, Aigleis and Lytaia. His daughters were sacrificed when the Athenians were suffering from a plague, brought on by the prayer of Minos to Zeus. The sacrifices were made because they thought that was what the oracle wanted. But the sacrifices were in vain, because the Athenians continued to suffer from the plague, until Athens realised that they had to send seven youths and seven maidens to Crete to feed the monster Minotaur that Minos kept in his Labyrinth.

In a different type of myth, Apollodorus then told of Hyacinthus being the son of one set of parents, and then later on, he wrote that he had the other set of parents, but yet in each story they shared the same fate. With Euripides (in the play Helen), Pausanias and Ovid (in the Metamorphoses), there was no doubt that his parents were Spartans (ie son of Amyclas). Ovid, by far, gives us the fullest account of Hyacinthus' death.

Whoever his parents were, Hyacinthus grew into a beautiful youth. Such was his beauty that a bard named Thamyris loved him. This was said to be the first homosexual relationship between two mortal males. However, his beauty also attracted the attention of the sun god Apollo.

Apollo fell in love with young Hyacinthus and became his constant companion, whether they went out hunting or joined in athletic exercises.

One day they decided to throw the discus. Apollo showed his prowess and threw the discus at a great distance. Hyacinthus went to fetch the discus, but the discus bounced off a rock and struck the boy's face. (According to one source, Zephyrus, god of the west wind, also fell in love with Hyacinthus, but he was jealous of Apollo. Zephyrus caused the discus to hit Hyacinthus.)

Apollo was horrified and flew to his lover's crumpled form. Apollo was the god of healing, but even his mighty power couldn't save Hyacinthus. His shade flew to Hades.

From Hyacinthus' blood, violet flowers grew where the blood landed, which were called Hyacinth. The flowers had the shape of a lily, but the petals were violet in colour. When Hyacinthus died his head would droop, and so did the flower, when its stem is broken.

Hyacinthus was buried in a tomb at Amyclae, a city that his father had founded. Apollo ordered an annual festival to be held at Amyclae. This festival was called Hyacinthia, where athletic contests were held. The cult of Hyacinthus probably historically existed in pre-Dorian times (the Bronze Age), in which he was worshipped as a hero and a god, but during the Archaic period it was held in honour to both Hyacinthus and Apollo.