terpsikeraunos:

psa: the ancient classical hyacinth (ὑάκινθος) isn’t the same plant as the modern hyacinth. there are various theories about which one it is; personally, i think the most convincing is the martagon lily. there’s a greek variant (lilium martagon var. cattaniae) that looks like this:

which would explain why sappho calls it τὸ πόρφυρον ἄνθος, the crimson flower, and why it was said to have sprung from the blood of hyacinth – the flowers do somewhat resemble drops of blood.