Clytie’s unrequited love for the sun god caused her to pine away until she was changed into a flower which always turns its face towards the sun. For modern readers, the primary source of this myth is in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
In Book 4 of theMetamorphoses, the sun god (referred to only as “Hyperion’s son”, but who is obviously meant to be Apollo), after ratting out Venus/Aphrodite during one of her own escapades has a curse put on him. He falls head over heels in love with a sea goddess named Leucothea (sometimes spelled Leucothoe), to the point the he causes the sun to set and rise at abnormal times. He forgets about Clytie, his former love, and disguises himself as Eurynome, Leucothea’s mother, so he can have an opportunity for a tumble.
Clytie becomes furiously jealous and tells Orchamus, Leucothea’s father, that his daughter has been defiled. Orchamus buries Leucothea alive. Apollo, after vainly trying to bring her back to life, douses her grave in perfume so that she will evaporate with the rays of the sun and return to the heavens with him.
When she realizes that what she has done will not return Apollo to her, Clytie goes insane. For nine days, she sits with her gaze fixed on the sun until the gods take pity on her and turn her into a flower.
Ive been finding quite a lot of information recently about the relationship between unrequited love and the use of a sunflower.
Although it is not the same text as one of the passages i have chosen to look at, i really feel like it would incorporate into my illustrations well and still keeps some basic themes that i want to be strong in them.
I understand that a lot of the blog posts that have been going up recently are all taking about what I'm GOING to do, rather then what i have done.
Im finding my balance between the essay and the project really tough at the moment, its a real struggle to balance my time well so just keep with me for now!
Update Soon.
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