오늘의 신화 처방
Gods & Spirits

Liriope

Λειριόπη

The water nymph who bore Narcissus and first put Tiresias' prophecy to the test.

She is a water nymph, caught in the current of the river god Cephisus, who bore Narcissus.

When she asked whether her son would live long, Tiresias answered: "If he never knows himself." Ovid writes that this was the first time Tiresias' prophecy was put to the test.

The answer — the Delphic "know thyself" turned inside out — came true exactly. The garden plant lilyturf carries her name as its genus, Liriope.

SourcesOvid, Metamorphoses

See also