View source for Anethus

{{short description|Greek mythological character}}
In [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology]], '''Anethus''' ({{langx|grc|Ἄνηθος|Ánēthos|dill}}) is a beautiful youth who undergoes transformation under unclear conditions and becomes a small flowering plant bearing his name, the [[dill]]. He and his story is only found in [[Servius (grammarian)|Maurus Servius Honoratus]], a Latin grammarian who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries AD.
== Etymology ==
The ancient Greek word for dill (''anethum graveolens'') is {{lang|grc|ἄνηθον}} (ánēthon), a neuter noun.{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=a)/nhqon ἄνηθον]}} It was also spelled {{lang|grc|ἄννηθον}} (''ánnēthon''), {{lang|grc|ἄνητον}} (''ánēton'') and {{lang|grc|ἄννητον}} (''ánnēton'').{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=a)/nhqon ἄνηθον]}} According to [[Robert S. P. Beekes|Robert Beekes]] it is probably of [[Pre-Greek substrate|pre-Greek]] origin, as are all words ending in a -thos/-thon suffix.{{sfn|Beekes|2009|pages=103, 833}}{{sfn|Colvin|2014|pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wd9nAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29–31]}}
== Mythology ==
The story of Anethus's minor transformation into the [[dill]] plant is only found in [[Servius (grammarian)|Servius]], who writes that Anethus, much like the [[Mecon (mythology)|poppy]] and the [[Narcissus (mythology)|daffodil]], belonged to the class of the beautiful youths that were transformed into the plants bearing their names.<ref>[[Servius (grammarian)|Servius]], ''On Virgil's Eclogues'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0091%3Apoem%3D2%3Acommline%3D47 2.47-48]</ref>{{sfn|Forbes Irving|1990|page=280}} Besides this brief mention, the full story of Anethus, his family, his birthplace, the deity responsible and the context behind his transformation has been lost.{{sfn|Forbes Irving|1990|page=280}} In ancient Greece anethum was seen by many doctors as a suitable herb for use in cures and remedies, especially for epilepsy.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Hünemörder | first = Christian | location = Hamburg | date = 2006 | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/anise-e122170 | title = Anise | encyclopedia = [[Brill's New Pauly]] | publisher = Brill Reference Online | editor-first1 = Hubert | editor-last1 = Cancik | editor-first2 = Helmuth | editor-last2 = Schneider | translator = Christine F. Salazar | access-date = July 31, 2023 | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e122170}}</ref>
== See also ==
{{portal|Mythology|Ancient Greece|Ancient Rome}}
* [[Ameinias (mythology)|Ameinias]]
* [[Clytie (Oceanid)|Clytie]]
* [[Cyparissus]]
* [[Hyacinth (mythology)|Hyacinthus]]
* [[Minthe]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book | author-link = Robert S. P. Beekes | last = Beekes | first = Robert S. P. | title = Etymological Dictionary of Greek | location = Leiden, the Netherlands | publisher = [[Brill Publications]] | date = 2009 | volume = 1 | isbn = 978-90-04-17420-7 | series = Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series | editor = Lucien van Beek}}
* {{cite book | title = A Brief History of Ancient Greek | first1 = Stephen | last1 = Colvin | date = 2014 | publisher = Wiley Blackwell | isbn = 978-1-4051-4925-9}}
* {{cite book | title = Metamorphosis in Greek Myths | location = Oxford, New York, Toronto | first = Paul M. C. | last = Forbes Irving | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]], [[Clarendon Press]] | date = 1990 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=URvXAAAAMAAJ | isbn = 0-19-814730-9}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Henry George | last1 = Liddell | first2 = Robert | last2 = Scott | title = [[A Greek-English Lexicon]], revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie | location = Oxford | publisher = [[Clarendon Press]] | date = 1940 | author1-link = Henry Liddell | author2-link = Robert Scott (philologist)}} [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057 Online version at Perseus.tufts project.]
* [[Maurus Servius Honoratus]], ''In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;'' recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0053 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}
[[Category:Characters in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into flowers in Greek mythology]]