Cyanus

For the story of Cyanus, we must move from Greece to Rome. Here the goddess Flora had a devoted boy who loved her deeply and her flowers she was responsible for. He would spend all his time in the cornfields weaving garlands of the flowers he found there. Cyanus would return to the city with a wreath of cornflowers every day and lay them on Flora’s shrine. Day and day out, this was his habit until one day, Cyanus was found dead in a patch of the cornflowers he loved so much. No wounds were visible, and no one knew what had caused the beautiful youth to die. Around him lay half-finished garlands of flowers, and as they carried his body to the city, Flora decreed that the cornflower should forever bear his name. So the cornflower and its color are a permanent memorial to a handsome boy who loved flowers.