#hymenaeos

It's beyond frustrating that none of these sources survive, but Antoninus' gloss is this:

'Magnes was the son of Argus, the son of Phrixus and Perimele, Admetus' daughter, and lived in the region of Thessaly, in the land which men called after Magnesia. He had a son of remarkable beauty, Hymenaios. And when Apollo saw the boy, he was seized with love for him, and would not leave the house of Magnes.'

In this version, while Magnes is his father, his mother is Kalliope, which makes Apollo's infatuation even more interesting. Immortal Hymenaios is most often Apollo's son, but his mortal form is most often Apollo's favourite:

Ovid, Metamorphoses ii:

[679] 'Now while Apollo wandered on those plains [the fields of Elis and Messenia] — his shoulders covered with a shepherd's skin, his left hand holding his long shepherd's staff, his right hand busied with the seven reeds of seven sizes, brooding over the death of Hymenaeus, lost from his delight; while mournful ditties on the reeds were tuned — his kine, forgotten, strayed away to graze over the plains of Pylos. Mercury observed them, unattended, and from thence drove them away and hid them in the forest. So deftly did he steal them, no one knew or noticed save an ancient forester, well known to all the neighbor-folk, by them called Battus.'

Apollodorus, Library iii. tells us that dead Hymenaios was brought back to life by Asklepios:

[3.10.3] 'Besides them Leucippus begat Arsinoe: with her Apollo had intercourse, and she bore Aesculapius. But some affirm that Aesculapius was not a son of Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus, but that he was a son of Coronis, daughter of Phlegyas in Thessaly. And they say that Apollo loved her and at once consorted with her, but that she, against her father's judgment, preferred and cohabited with Ischys, brother of Caeneus. Apollo cursed the raven that brought the tidings and made him black instead of white, as he had been before; but he killed Coronis. As she was burning, he snatched the babe from the pyre and brought it to Chiron, the centaur, by whom he was brought up and taught the arts of healing and hunting. And having become a surgeon, and carried the art to a great pitch, he not only prevented some from dying, but even raised up the dead; for he had received from Athena the blood that flowed from the veins of the Gorgon, and while he used the blood that flowed from the veins on the left side for the bane of mankind, he used the blood that flowed from the right side for salvation, and by that means he raised the dead. I found some who are reported to have been raised by him, to wit, Capaneus and Lycurgus, as Stesichorus says in the Eriphyle; Hippolytus, as the author of the Naupactica reports; Tyndareus, as Panyasis says; Hymenaeus, as the Orphics report; and Glaucus, son of Minos, as Melesagoras relates.'

There's another tradition which is basically a set of just-so stories about why Hymenaios became associated with i) marriage and ii) assisting girls out of their virginity. What these versions have in common with the 'beloved of Apollo' tradition is Hymenaios' extraordinary beauty, which in this other set of stories is described as being so like a girl that he's often mistaken for one.

There are strong hints of both Akhilleos and Dionysos in these tales, which Eustathius of Thessalonica in his commentaries on Homer summarises like this:

'Hymenaeus was a youth of Argos, who, while sailing along the coast of Attica, delivered a number of Attic maidens from the violence of some Pelasgian pirates, and was afterwards praised by them in their bridal songs, which were called, after him, hymeneal songs. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1157.)

Much more elaborate versions of this tale come from Servius on the Aeneid and Eclogues and (via him) the Vatican Mythographers:

Maurus Servius Honoratus [Servius] (on Aeneid 1.651) 'Hymenaeus, as others say, was a certain young man who, being crushed on his wedding day, fell into ruin, whence he is named at the wedding for the purpose of expiation. This is false, however; for the name of an extinct person should rather have been avoided. But this is the truth: a certain Hymenaeus at Athens freed virgins during the most savage wars, for which reason those who are getting married invoke his name, as if he were the liberator of virginity.'

Servius (on Aeneid 4.99) 'Hymenaeus, an Athenian, was so beautiful that he was thought to be a young girl. Since he himself was of mediocre birth and had fallen in love with a noble maiden and despaired of her marriage, he satisfied his love by following the girl, which was the only thing he could do. But when the noblest maidens of the Athenians were performing the rites of Ceres at Eleusis, they were suddenly kidnapped by the arrival of pirates: among whom was Hymenaeus, who had followed his beloved there, who was kidnapped as if he were a girl. But when the pirates had carried off the booty across distant seas, they were carried off to a deserted region and, exhausted, fell asleep. When Hymenaeus had killed all of them, he returned to Athens and asked the citizens that if he brought back the maidens who had been kidnapped, he would obtain the marriage of his beloved. When he had brought them back, he obtained the desired virgin for marriage. Because this marriage had been successful, it was decided by all the Athenians that the name Hymenaeus should be attached to all weddings.'

Servius (on Aeneid 4.127) records that 'Cornelius Balbus said that Hymenaeus, the son of Magnetus, an expert in the art of music, died of womanly beauty while celebrating the wedding of his father Liber and Althaea with religious songs: for which reason such honor was attributed to him at weddings that the celebration of his name was a perpetual omen of the wedding to be joined.'

Servius (on Eclogues 8.30) 'You are abandoned by the mountain of Oeta in Thessaly, on which Hercules was burned to death after he could not take off his tunic, stained with the blood of the centaur Nessus, and was later received into heaven. From this mountain the stars seem to set, just as they are born from Ida, as "now the lucifer of Ida rose from the highest heights". And this he says: 'for you', that is, because of you, night has come. On the same mountain Hesperus is said to be worshipped, who is said to have loved Hymenaeus, a beautiful boy: who Hymenaeus is said to have lost his voice singing at the wedding of Ariadne and his father Liber: from whose name the wedding was named.'

The First Vatican Mythographer, 74. The Story of Hymeneus.

'Hymeneus, a most handsome boy, was of Athenian origin. When he surpassed the years of boyhood and still could not achieve manhood, it is said that he had been endowed with this beauty so that he might imitate being a woman. When one of his fellow citizens, a noble maiden, loved him, he despaired of marriage, since he was born of common parents.

Yet he did what he could: loving her at a distance with his heart alone, he made himself a girl in appearance. When the noble women and maidens were celebrating the sacred rites of Eleusinian Ceres, pirates arrived suddenly and captured them. Among the women was also Hymeneus, who had followed his beloved; he was carried off along with the girl. Then, when the pirates had carried their booty over the distant seas, finally they reached a certain region where, overcome by sleep, they were slain by those pursuing them. With the maidens left there, Hymeneus returned to Athens and was promised marriage to his beloved by the citizens if he would restore their own daughters to them. When he restored them according to his vow, he received his desired wife. Since this union was happy, it pleased the Athenians to join the name of Hymeneus to marriage.'

The Second Mythographer, 263. On Hymenaeus.

The Third Mythographer, 11. Venus

'Hymenaeus, as some say, is the god of marriage. Others say that he was a certain youth overwhelmed by catastrophe on the day of his marriage. Thus he is called upon at weddings for the sake of expiation. But this is false, for his name ought to be avoided more than retained. Yet the story that follows is the truth. Hymenaeus was a boy of the Athenian nation. When he surpassed the years of boyhood and still could not achieve manhood, he is said to have been endowed with beauty so that he might imitate being a woman. When one of his fellow citizens, a noble maiden, loved him, he despaired of marriage, since he was born of common parents. Yet he did what he could: loving her at a distance with his heart alone, he made himself a girl in appearance. When the noble women and maidens were celebrating the sacred rites of Eleusinian Ceres, pirates arrived suddenly and captured them. Among the women was also Hymenaeus, who had followed that beloved maiden, and the girl was entrusted to him. When the pirates had carried their booty over the distant seas, finally, swept along, they reached a certain region and there, overcome by sleep, they were slain by those pursuing them. Hymenaeus left the maidens there and returned to Athens. He was promised marriage to his beloved by the citizens if he would restore their own daughters to them. When Hymenaeus restored them in accordance with his vow, he received his desired wife. Because their union was happy, it pleased the Athenians to join the name of Hymenaeus to marriage. For this reason, those who are marrying still invoke the name of the liberator of virginity, as it were.'

'The three Graces, who are called Charites, are women of singular beauty; they are assigned to Venus as attendants, and are named Pasithea, Aglaia, and Euphrosyne. They are depicted nude, since grace ought to be without rouge, that is, not feigned and contrived, but pure and sincere. The Graces are joined together because it is fitting that friendships be indissoluble. Thus Horace wrote: "and the Graces, slow to loosen the knot." Indeed, this is the reason that one is turned away, but two are depicted as looking back: because grace proceeds from us singly, but is wont to return double. They are called daughters of Venus and Liber because favors (gratiae) are very often gained through the gifts of these deities, namely, of Venus, who is pleasure, and Liber, who is wine. Also, as I seem to have heard, Pasithea means "attracting," Aglaia means "soothing," and Euphrosyne means "retaining," since in acquiring friendships the first thing is to attract the unknown persons, second is to soothe those attracted by flattery, and third is to retain by compliance those whom you have soothed. It is thought that Hymenaeus was born of Venus and Bacchus because, as Remigius says, lust is accustomed to be aroused through the wantonness of wine. Also, the membrane that belongs exclusively to the female sex, the one where childbirths are said to happen, is called hymen in Greek. Thus Hymenaeus is called the god of weddings.'

'Lactantius tells a story drawn from history, that Hymenaeus presides over weddings. Servius also attests to this, for he says that Hymenaeus was a young Athenian of such great beauty that he imitated being a woman. When one of his fellow citizens, a noble maiden, loved him, he despaired of marriage because he was born of common parents. But once, when Athenian maidens were celebrating sacred rites near the seashore, they were seized and carried off by pirates who arrived suddenly. Among them was also Hymenaeus, who had followed his beloved maiden in female garb; he was believed to be a girl. But after the pirates reached port in a faraway land, pursuers killed them. And so, with the maidens left behind, Hymenaeus returned to Athens; the citizens promised him marriage to his beloved if he should restore their daughters to them. When he restored them according to his promise, he married the wife he desired. Since a happy marriage fell to his lot, it happened that his name is invoked at weddings. Servius asserts that it is false that the young Hymenaeus, as some say, was overwhelmed by disaster on the day of his wedding, and so his name is invoked at weddings for the sake of expiation.'