Heliotrope: Shunned by the Sun

The Greek word heliotrope means to turn toward the sun. We apply the name to a modest flower of purple color and delightful odor, that came from Peru, and, being adopted into France, was called there herb of love. What the original heliotrope was, we do not know with certainty, but it is supposed to be a plant known in Germany as God’s herb, and to have many healing qualities. In the Greek myth the sun god Apollo is loved by Clytia, for whom he cares so little that he goes a-wooing the princess Leukothea. Clytia reveals the liason to the king, who, furious at the misconduct of his daughter, buries her alive.

Apollo returns to the heavens without so much as a look for the unhappy Clytia, who, bitterly conscious of the mischief she has done, falls to the ground and lies there for nine days, watching the passing of Apollo in his chariot, and praying for a look of pity. Seeing her wasted with privation and sorrow, the gods have mercy and change her into the heliotrope. She still lies at length upon the earth and looks toward heaven with half averted eye, as waiting complete forgiveness and acceptance.

From: Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants, by Charles M. Skinner, c. 1911 by J.B. Lippincott Company