Myrrha
In
Greek mythology,
Myrrha was the daughter of
Theias, the King of
Assyria, and mother of Adonis by him. Two different versions of
Adonis' birth existed.
- The most commonly accepted version is that Aphrodite urged Myrrha to commit incest with her father, Theias. Myrrha's nurse helped with the scheme. When Theias discovered this, he flew into a rage, chasing his daughter with a knife. The gods turned her into a myrrh tree and Adonis eventually sprung from this tree.
- It was also said that Myrrha fled from her father and Aphrodite turned her into a tree. Adonis was then born when Theias shot an arrow into the tree or when a boar used its tusks to tear the tree's bark off.
In biology, Myrrha is a genus of ladybird beetle.
