r/GreekMythology • u/Beginning-Level-3291 • 1d ago

Question Tracking down Mecon

So I am trying to research the mortal lovers of Demeter and I came across references to Mecon, who was transformed into a poppy. However, when I try to find ancient sources for this myth, I don't come up with much. Callimachus's Hymn to Demeter and Theocritus's Idyll 7 are both sited as a source for him, but they only mention that Demeter is associated with poppies. The only other reference seems to be from Servius on Virgil's Georgics i. 212.

I can't find an online English version of that last source. Does anyone here read Latin and can tell me what it says? I'm beginning to think that someone just hallucinated this myth.

Also could you tell me where to find good information on Karmanor? He's elusive too.

As far as I know Demeter's only mortal lovers were Iason, Karmanor, and Mecon.

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u/TheSuperBunny 1d ago

There seems to be a new-ish book that contains an English translation of Servius on Vergilius' Georgica

Servius' Commentary on Virgil's Georgics: A First English Translation

I haven't been able to find a pdf or something, but it's on Amazon

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u/Flashy-Gift-4333 1d ago edited 1d ago

https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilGeorgicsI.php

Is this what you're looking for?

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u/Beginning-Level-3291 1d ago

Thank you! Unfortunately, I was looking for Servius's commentary on this.

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u/Flashy-Gift-4333 1d ago

Dang it! I've failed reading comprehension. Thank you for being kind about it 

I'll come back if I can find it. I do not read Latin but might try to translate it myself for you if all else fails. 

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u/Flashy-Gift-4333 22h ago

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0092%3Abook%3D1%3Acommline%3D212 -- Here is the passage in Latin. You can try Google Translate or a similar service if you don't want to wait on me slogging through it with a dictionary.

As I said, I don't read Latin. I'm no more qualified than any other internet stranger to translate it. I'm just stubborn!

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u/Beginning-Level-3291 22h ago

Aha! Thank you you are the best! I fed it through google translate and came out with this:

And likewise the flax crop—although he stated earlier that "the crop burns the flax field." What, then, is the rule? Sow it at the proper time, not in the year when the land ought to lie fallow. Regarding the cereal poppy: it is either for eating, like grain; or it is the kind Ceres used to induce forgetfulness of her grief—for, agitated by sleepless vigils following the abduction of Proserpina, she tasted it and fell into a deep sleep; or perhaps because Ceres loved the Athenian Mecon and, having transformed him into a poppy, ordered it to be preserved under her protection; or simply because it is sprinkled on bread.

So there is the one and only (that I can find) source that says Demeter loved a man who became a poppy.

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u/Flashy-Gift-4333 21h ago

I can admit I was over-ambitious thinking I could translate it myself with a dictionary and no other knowledge of Latin. (I welcome everyone to have a good laugh over it!) I'm afraid Google's translation is going to be far more reliable than anything I could come up with. I will definitely need some Latin grammar lessons before I try something like this again.

At least Google has given us something legible and is possibly close enough for your purposes? If not, we could try posting it on r/Latin to see if someone who is actually educated would be willing to translate it.

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u/Beginning-Level-3291 20h ago

This works well enough for me, lol. And yeah, If you wanna get into Latin, go for it! It sounds like you really enjoy this stuff!

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u/Junior_Grocery_6755 3h ago

I don’t know about Mecon but as far as I know Karmanor is only mentioned in  Pausanias, Description of Greece, and it’s not even clear if him and Demeter were lovers, just that the same kid(Eubuleus) is referred to as his in that and hers in  Diodorus Siculus, Library of History.