Cinyras

Myrrha and Cinyras. Engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's Metamorphoses

King Cinyras (Greek: Κινύρας, Kinuras) of Cyprus, according to Greek mythology, was a son of Apollo and husband of Metharme. With her, he fathered Adonis and Myrrha.

Cinyras and his father, Apollo, held a musical contest to see who was a better musician with a lyre. Cinyras lost and killed himself.

On Cyprus, Cinyras was revered as the creator of art and musical instruments such as the flute.

According to Ovid, Cinyras was the king of Panchaia, a land east of Arabia, and the father of Myrrha. When he discovered that he had unwittingly impregnated his daughter, he attempted to kill her, but the gods turned Myrhha into a tree, from which sprang the child Adonis. The story of Cinyras and Myrrha as written by Ovid was translated by Sir Samuel Garth, John Dryden, et al

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