Iynx

In Greek mythology, Iynx was an Arkadian Oreiad nymph; a daughter of the god Pan and either Peitho or Echo. She cast a spell on Zeus which caused him to fall in love with Io. In consequence of this, Hera metamorphosed her into the bird called iynx (Eurasian wryneck, jynx torquilla).^[1]

According to another story, she was a daughter of Pierus, and as she and her sisters had presumed to enter into a musical contest with the Muses, she was changed into the bird iynx.^[2] This bird, the symbol of passionate and restless love, was given by Aphrodite to Jason, who, by turning it round and pronouncing certain magic words, excited the love of Medea.^[3]

See also

• Jinx

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Leonhard Schmitz (1870). "Iynx". In Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology 2. p. 692.

Footnotes

1. Scholia on Theocritus 2. 17, on Pindar, Pythian Ode 4. 380, Nemean Ode 4. 56; Tzetzes on Lycophron 310. (cited in Smith)
2. Antoninus Liberalis 9. (cited in Smith)
3. Pindar, Pythian Ode 4. 380, &c.; Tzetzes on Lycophron 310 (cited in Smith)