Karpos

In Greek mythology, Karpos (/ˈkɑːrpɒs/; Ancient Greek: Καρπός : Karpós; Latin: Carpus, literally "fruit"), was a youth renowned for his beauty.

For the constituent municipality of Skopje, Macedonia, see Municipality of Karpoš (Skopje). For other uses, see Carpus (disambiguation).

Karpo, one of the Horae, is the feminine equivalent of Karpos; her dominion being the fruits of the earth.

Greek mythology

The story, told in Nonnus's Dionysiaca, tells about the love of two youths, Karpos and Kalamos, son of Maiandros (god of the Maeander river). Karpos drowned in the Meander river while the two were competing in a swimming contest and in his grief, Kalamos allowed himself to also drown. He was then transformed into a water reed, whose rustling in the wind was interpreted as a sigh of lamentation, while Karpos was became 'the fruit of the earth'.[1]

Etymology

The word Karpos derives from the Proto-Indo-European language root *kerp-.[2] Cognates can be found in many Indo-European languages including modern English in words such as "harvest" (via Germanic), "carpet", "excerpt" and "scarce" (via Latin).

References
  1. Nonnus, Dionysiaca, translated by le Comte de Marcellus in 1856. Eglinton 1964: 474.
  2. R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 149.
  • The dictionary definition of Karpos at Wiktionary
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