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Coronis

A mortal princess loved by Apollo, whose unfaithfulness, reported to the god by a crow, led to her death; Apollo rescued their unborn son Asclepius from her funeral pyre.

Accounts of this vary across texts and traditions. This entry primarily follows Greek mythology (Hesiod and Homer), with other tellings (Homer (Iliad and Odyssey), Ovid's Metamorphoses (Roman retelling), Regional and later Greek and Roman tradition) noted where relevant.

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Relationships

Spouse
Apollo
Children
Asclepius

Introduction

Coronis is a mortal princess, daughter of Phlegyas, loved by Apollo, and, through this union, the mother of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Her death, brought about by her own infidelity while pregnant, and the rescue of her unborn child, is one of the more distinctive origin stories among the Olympian gods' offspring.

Family

The crow's report and Apollo's anger

While pregnant with Apollo's child, Coronis fell in love with and slept with a mortal man, Ischys. A crow (in some versions, still white at this point in the story) reported the affair to Apollo, who, in his fury, either killed Coronis himself with an arrow or asked his sister Artemis to do so; in one well-known aetiological detail, Apollo is also said to have cursed the crow, turning its feathers from white to black as punishment for bearing bad news.

The rescue of Asclepius

As Coronis's body lay on the funeral pyre, Apollo, regretting his hasty anger, cut the still-living infant Asclepius from her womb and gave him to the wise centaur Chiron to raise and train, an act that preserved the future god of medicine even as it could not save his mortal mother.

Sources

  1. Pythian Odes (primary text)
  2. Bibliotheca, Book 3 (primary text) — https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html

This entry is independently written for myVamsam using the sources listed above. Where traditions differ, this entry identifies the relevant tradition rather than presenting one account as universally established fact.