Apollo Unfaithful lover One day Apollo saw Coronis and became enamoured of her. He lay with her in her home, and consequently she became pregnant. One time when Apollo was away performing his godly duties, Coronis fell in love with
Ischys, son of
Elatus. Going against her father's warnings, she slept with him in secret. Apollo, however, discovered this affair through his prophetic powers. Angered, he sent his twin sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis. Accordingly,
Artemis killed Coronis and her family with her arrows. In one variation, Artemis kills them on her own accord to avenge the insult done to her brother. Likewise, Ischys was killed by
Zeus. In
Ovid's poem, it is a raven that informed Apollo of the affair, and he killed Coronis with his own arrow. Before her death, Coronis was resigned to her fate. Apollo instantly regretted his impulsive action and tried to heal her, but Coronis was already dead. He then placed her body on the pyre and poured myrrh and other sweet fragrances on it as a part of the funerary rites. Hyginus also has Coronis's death be at the hands of Apollo. Others say that it was
Hermes instead who saved the infant from the flames.
The raven and constellation Corvus According to
Ovid, when Coronis was pregnant, Apollo had appointed a white raven to guard her before leaving. The raven, after learning the affair of Coronis with Ischys, reported it to Apollo. Apollo sent Artemis to kill the couple and in anger, turned the raven black by scorching it as a punishment for being a tattletale and failing its duty. This is given as the reason why
ravens are black today.
Istrus (Greek historian) and several others said that Coronis was turned into the
constellation Corvus. == See also ==