Dryope (daughter of Dryops)

Dríope transformed into a lotus tree illustration extracted out of Ovid's Metamorphoses

In Greek mythology, Dryope (/ˈdraɪ.əpiː/; Greek: Δρυόπη derived from δρῦς drys, "oak"; dryope "woodpecker"[1]) is the daughter of Dryops, king of Oeta ("oak-man")[2] or of Eurytus (and hence half-sister to Iole).[3] She is sometimes thought of as one of the Pleiades (and hence a nymph). Dryope mothered Amphissus by Apollo.[2]

In some accounts, Hermes fathered Pan upon Dryope, daughter of Dryops,[4] for whom he was tending kine, but according to 20th century author Robert Graves (1960), Pan was far older than Hermes.

Mythology

There are two stories of her metamorphosis into a black poplar.

Antoninus Liberalis' account

According to the first, Apollo seduced her by a trick. While Dryope tended the flocks of her father on Mount Oeta, she became the playmate of the hamadryads of the woods on Mount Oeta. The nymphs taught her to sing hymns to the gods and to dance. On one occasion, Dryope was seen by Apollo and he chased the maiden. In order to win her favours the god turned himself into a tortoise, of which the girls made a pet. The nymphs played with the animal and when Dryope had the tortoise on her lap, Apollo turned into a snake. She tried to flee, but he coiled around her legs and held her arms tightly against her sides as he raped her. The nymphs then abandoned her, and she eventually gave birth to her son Amphissus. Soon after Dryope married Andraemon, son of Oxylus. Amphissus eventually built a temple to his father Apollo in the city of Oeta, which he founded. Here the nymphs came to converse with Dryope, who had become a priestess of the temple, but one day Apollo again returned in the form of a serpent and coiled around her while she stood by a spring. This time Dryope was turned into a poplar tree.[2]

Ovid's account

In Ovid's version of the story,[3] Dryope was wandering by a lake, suckling her baby Amphissus, when she saw the bright red flowers of the lotus tree, formerly the nymph Lotis who, when fleeing from Priapus, had been changed into a tree. Dryope wanted to give the blossoms to her baby to play with, but when she picked one the tree started to tremble and bleed. She tried to run away, but the blood of the tree had touched her skin and she found her feet rooted to the spot. She slowly began to turn into a black poplar, the bark spreading up her legs from the earth, but just before the woody stiffness finally reached her throat and as her arms began sprouting twigs her husband Andraemon heard her cries and came to her. She had just enough time to warn her husband to take care of their child and make sure that he did not pick flowers. She also told him to find Amphissus a nurse and to tell him to call her his mother.

References

  1. ↑ Graves, Robert, (1955) 1960. The Greek Myths.
  2. 1 2 3 Antoninus Liberalis, 32; Stephanus Byzantinus, "Dryope";
  3. 1 2 Ovid, Metamorphoses, IX.325ff.
  4. ↑ Homeric Hymn 19 to Pan, line 34
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