Coronis- Greek FigureMortal
Also known as: Koronis, Κορωνίς, and Korōnis
Symbols
Description
A white crow brought Apollo the news: Coronis, pregnant with his child, had taken a mortal lover. The god turned the crow's feathers black for its trouble, then struck Coronis dead. From her burning pyre he cut the living infant — Asclepius, who would become the god of medicine.
Mythology & Lore
The Crow's News
Coronis was a princess of Thessaly, daughter of Phlegyas, king of the Lapiths. Apollo fell in love with her and she conceived his child. But while pregnant with the god's son, Coronis took a mortal lover — Ischys, son of Elatus. Pindar marvels at the folly: she desired what was distant and despised what she had, a failing he calls plain madness.
In Pindar's telling, Apollo needed no informant — the god whose mind cannot be deceived already knew. In Ovid, Apollo learned through a white crow he had set to watch over her. When the bird brought the news, the god was consumed by fury. He cursed the crow, turning its feathers from white to black — the reason, in Greek tradition, that all crows have been dark ever since. Then he turned his wrath on Coronis. In one tradition, Apollo struck her down with his own arrows; in others, he sent his twin Artemis to do the killing. She was placed on the funeral pyre, and as the flames rose, the god felt the full weight of what he had done.
Born from the Flames
In Ovid, Apollo tried his healing arts first, pressing herb after herb to Coronis's wound, but it was too late. He reached into the burning pyre and cut the living infant from her body before the fire could consume it. The child was Asclepius. Apollo entrusted the rescued infant to the centaur Chiron on Mount Pelion, where Asclepius learned the arts of healing.
Her father Phlegyas burned Apollo's temple at Delphi to avenge his daughter, and was punished in the underworld — Virgil sets him in Tartarus, crying out his warning to respect the gods.
Relationships
- Family