Editing Myrrha (section)

==Cultural impact==

===Literature===

One of the earliest recordings of a play inspired by the myth of Myrrha is in the ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'', written in 93 A.D. by the [[Roman Empire|Roman]]-[[Jews|Jewish]] historian [[Josephus|Flavius Josephus]].<ref name="Josephus669">{{Harvnb|Josephus|1835|p=23}}</ref> A tragedy entitled ''Cinyras'' is mentioned, wherein the main character, Cinyras, is to be slain along with his daughter Myrrha, and "a great deal of fictitious blood was shed".<ref name="Josephus384">{{Harvnb|Josephus|1835|p=384}} (Book XIX, chapter 1.13)</ref> No further details are given about the plot of this play.<ref name="Josephus384"/>

[[File:Inferno Canto 30 verses 38-39.jpg|left|240px|thumb|Myrrha in Hell ([[Gustave Doré]], illustration for Dante's ''Divine Comedy'')]]

Myrrha appears in the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' poem ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'' by [[Dante Alighieri]], where Dante sees her soul being punished in the [[Malebolge|eighth circle of Hell]], in the tenth bolgia (ditch). Here she and other falsifiers such as the [[Alchemy|alchemists]] and the counterfeiters suffer dreadful diseases, Myrrha's being madness.<ref name="Alighieri205-210">{{Harvnb|Alighieri|2003|pp=205–210}} (canto XXX, verses 34-48)</ref><ref name="Glenn58-59">{{Harvnb|Glenn|2008|pp=58–59}}</ref> Myrrha's suffering in the tenth bolgia indicates her most serious sin was not incest{{efn|Incest would likely have been categorized as a "carnal sin" by Dante which would have earned her a place in Hell's 2nd circle.<ref name="Alighieri01">{{Harvnb|Alighieri|2003|p=v}}</ref>}} but deceit.<ref name="Alighieri0">{{Harvnb|Alighieri|2003|p=vii}}</ref> Diana Glenn interprets the symbolism in Myrrha's [[contrapasso]] as being that her sin is so unnatural and unlawful that she is forced to abandon human society and simultaneously she loses her identity. Her madness in Hell prevents even basic communication which attests to her being contemptuous of the social order in life.<ref name="Glenn58-59"/>

Dante had already shown his familiarity with the myth of Myrrha in a prior letter to [[Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry VII]], which he wrote on 17 April 1311.<ref name="Alighieri69">{{Harvnb|Alighieri|2007|p=69}}</ref> Here he compares [[Florence]] with "Myrrha, wicked and ungodly, yearning for the embrace of her father, Cinyras";<ref name="Alighieri78-79">{{Harvnb|Alighieri|2007|pp=78–79}}</ref> a metaphor, Claire Honess interprets as referring to the way Florence tries to "seduce" [[Pope Clement V]] away from Henry VII. It is incestuous because the [[Pope]] is the father of all and it is also implied that the city in that way rejects her true husband, the Emperor.<ref name="Alighieri78-79"/>

In the poem ''[[Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare poem)|Venus and Adonis]]'', written by [[William Shakespeare]] in 1593 [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] refers to Adonis' mother. In the 34th stanza Venus is lamenting because Adonis is ignoring her approaches and in her heart-ache she says "O, had thy mother borne so hard a mind, She had not brought forth thee, but died unkind."<ref name="Shakespeare732">{{Harvnb|Shakespeare|1932|p=732}} (stanza 34)</ref> Shakespeare makes a subtle reference to Myrrha later when Venus picks a flower: "She crops the stalk, and in the breach appears, Green dropping sap, which she compares to tears."<ref name="Shakespeare755">{{Harvnb|Shakespeare|1932|p=755}} (stanza 196)</ref> It has been suggested that these plant juices being compared to tears are a parallel to Myrrha's tears being the drops of myrrh exuding from the myrrh tree.<ref name="Bate58">{{Harvnb|Bate|1994|p=58}}</ref>

In another work of Shakespeare, ''[[Othello]]'' (1603), it has been suggested that he has made another reference. In act 5, scene 2 the main character Othello compares himself to a myrrh tree with its constant stream of tears (Myrrha's tears).{{efn|Othello: "...of one whose subdued eyes,<br /> Albeit unused to the melting mood,<br /> Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees<br /> Their medicinal gum".<ref>Othello, V, II, 357-360 as cited in {{Harvnb|Bate|1994|p=187}}</ref>}} The reference is justified in the way that it draws inspiration from Book X of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', just like his previously written poem, ''Venus and Adonis'', did.<ref name="Bate187">{{Harvnb|Bate|1994|p=187}}</ref>

The tragedy ''Mirra'' by [[Vittorio Alfieri]] (written in 1786) is inspired by the story of Myrrha. In the play, Mirra falls in love with her father, Cinyras. Mirra is to be married to Prince Pyrrhus, but decides against it, and leaves him at the altar. In the ending, Mirra has a mental breakdown in front of her father who is infuriated because the prince has killed himself. Owning that she loves Cinyras, Mirra grabs his sword, while he recoils in horror, and kills herself.<ref name="Eggenberger38">{{Harvnb|Eggenberger|1972|p=38}}</ref>

The novella ''[[Mathilda (novella)|Mathilda]]'', written by [[Mary Shelley]] in 1820, contains similarities to the myth and mentions Myrrha. Mathilda is left by her father as a baby after her birth causes the death of her mother, and she does not meet her father until he returns sixteen years later. Then he tells her that he is in love with her, and, when she refuses him, he commits suicide.<ref name="Mathilda summary">{{cite web | url = http://www.enotes.com/nineteenth-century-criticism/mathilda-mary-wollstonecraft-shelley | title = Mathilda, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Introduction | access-date = 2011-01-26 | last = Whitaker | first = Jessica Menzo Russel | year = 2002 | work = eNotes | publisher = Gale Cengage}}</ref> In chapter 4, Mathilda makes a direct allusion: "I chanced to say that I thought ''Myrrha'' the best of Alfieri's tragedies."<ref name="Shelley128">Shelley, Mary. ''Mathilda'' in ''The Mary Shelley Reader''. Oxford University Press, 1990 cited in {{Harvnb|Shelley|1997|p=128}}</ref> Audra Dibert Himes, in an essay entitled "Knew shame, and knew desire", notes a more subtle reference to Myrrha: Mathilda spends the last night before her father’s arrival in the woods, but as she returns home the next morning the trees seemingly attempt to encompass her. Himes suggests that the trees can be seen as a parallel to Ovid’s metamorphosed Myrrha.<ref name="Shelley123">{{Harvnb|Shelley|1997|p=123}}</ref>

The tragedy ''Sardanapalus'' by [[George Gordon Byron]] published in 1821 and produced in 1834 is set in Assyria, 640 B.C., under King [[Sardanapalus]]. The play deals with the revolt against the extravagant king and his relationship to his favourite slave Myrrha. Myrrha made Sardanapalus appear at the head of his armies, but after winning three successive battles in this way he was eventually defeated. A beaten man, Myrrha persuaded Sardanapalus to place himself on a funeral pyre which she would ignite and subsequently leap onto - burning them both alive.<ref name='Cambridge Sardanapalus'>{{Harvnb|Ousby|1993|p=827}}</ref><ref name='Britannica vol 10'>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = The New Encyclopædia Britannica: Micropædia | title = Sardanapalus | edition = 15th | year = 2003 | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. | volume = 10 | location = U.S.A. | page = 450}}</ref><ref name="Hochman 1984">{{Harvnb|Hochman|1984|p=38}}</ref><ref name='Byron'>{{Harvnb|Byron|1823|p=3}}</ref> The play has been interpreted as an [[autobiography]], with Sardanapalus as Byron's alter ego, Zarina as Byron's wife [[Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron|Anne Isabella]], and Myrrha as his mistress [[Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli|Teresa]]. At a more abstract level Myrrha is the desire for freedom driving those who feel trapped or bound, as well as being the incarnation of Byron's dream of romantic love.<ref name="McGann142-150">{{Harvnb|McGann|2002|pp=142–150}}</ref> Byron knew the story of the mythical Myrrha, if not directly through Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', then at least through Alfieri's ''Mirra'', which he was familiar with. In her essay "A Problem Few Dare Imitate", Susan J. Wolfson phrases and interprets the relation of the play ''Sardanapalus'' and the myth of Myrrha:<ref name="Gleckner223-224">{{Harvnb|Gleckner|1997|pp=223–224}}</ref>
<blockquote>
Although [Byron's] own play evades the full import of this complicated association, Myrrha's name means that it [the name's referring to incest, red.] cannot be escaped entirely - especially since Ovid's story of Myrrha's incest poses a potential reciprocal to the nightmare Byron invents for Sardanapalus, of sympathy with the son who is the object of his mother's 'incest'.<ref name="Gleckner224">{{Harvnb|Gleckner|1997|p=224}}</ref>
</blockquote>

In 1997 the myth of Myrrha and Cinyras was one of 24 tales from Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' that were retold by English poet [[Ted Hughes]] in his poetical work ''[[Tales from Ovid]]''. The work was praised for not directly translating, but instead retelling the story in a language which was as fresh and new for the audience today as Ovid's texts were to his contemporary audience. Hughes was also complimented on his achievements in using humour or horror when describing Myrrha or a flood, respectively.<ref name="The Independent 1997">{{cite news | first = Josephine | last = Balmer | author-link = Josephine Balmer | title = What's the Latin for 'the Brookside vice'? | date = 1997-05-04 | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/whats-the-latin-forthe-brookside-vice-1259779.html | work = The Independent | access-date = 2011-01-29}}</ref> The work received critical acclaim winning the [[Whitbread Book of the Year|Whitbread Book Of The Year Award]] 1997<ref name="Whitbread">{{cite web | url = http://www.costabookawards.com/downloads/PastWinners.pdf | title = Past Winners | access-date = 2011-01-29 | work = Costa Book Awards | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091229131124/http://www.costabookawards.com/downloads/PastWinners.pdf | archive-date = 2009-12-29 }}</ref> and being adapted to the stage in 1999, starring Sirine Saba as Myrrha.<ref name="The Independent 1999">{{cite news | title = THE INFORMATION on; 'Tales from Ovid' | date = 1999-04-23 | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-information-on--tales-from-ovid-1089019.html | work = The Independent | access-date = 2011-01-29}}</ref>

In 1997 American poet [[Frank Bidart]] wrote ''Desire'', which was another retelling of the myth of Myrrha as it was presented in the ''Metamorphoses'' by Ovid. The case of Myrrha, critic Langdon Hammer notes, is the worst possible made against desire, because the story of Myrrha shows how sex can lead people to destroy others as well as themselves. He comments that "the "precious bitter resin" into which Myrrha's tears are changed tastes bitter ''and'' sweet, like ''Desire'' as a whole".<ref name='Nation 1997'>{{cite news | first = Langdon | last = Hammer | title = Poetry and Embodiment | date = 1997-11-24 | publisher = Katrina vanden Heuvel | work = The Nation | pages = 32–34 }}</ref> He further writes: "The inescapability of desire makes Bidart's long story of submission to it a kind of affirmation. Rather than aberrant, the Ovidian characters come to feel exemplary".<ref name="Nation 1997"/>

Myrrha - or Smyrna - is also mentioned in André Aciman's 2019 novel Find Me.

====John Dryden's translation====
[[File:John Dryden portrait.jpg|300px|thumb|The English poet [[John Dryden]] translated the myth of Myrrha for political purposes.]]

In 1700 English poet [[John Dryden]] published his translations of myths by Ovid, [[Homer]], and [[Giovanni Boccaccio|Boccaccio]] in the volume ''Fables, Ancient and Modern''. Literary critic Anthony W. Lee notes in his essay "Dryden's ''Cinyras and Myrrha''" that this translation, along with several others, can be interpreted as a subtle comment on the political scene of the late seventeenth-century England.<ref name="Drydenpaper">{{cite journal | title = Dryden's Cinyras and Myrrha | journal = The Explicator | year = 2004 | first = Anthony W. | last = Lee | volume = 62 | issue = 3 | pages = 141–144 | doi = 10.1080/00144940409597201 | s2cid = 161754795 }}</ref>

The translation of the myth of Myrrha as it appeared in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' is suggested as being a critique of the political settlement that followed the [[Glorious Revolution]]. The wife of the leader of this revolution, [[William III of England|William of Orange]], was [[Mary II of England|Mary]], daughter of [[James II of England|James II]]. Mary and William were crowned king and queen of England in 1689, and because Dryden was deeply sympathetic to James he lost his public offices and fell into political disfavor under the new reign. Dryden turned to translation and infused these translations with political satire in response - the myth of Myrrha being one of these translations.<ref name="Drydenpaper" />

In the opening lines of the poem Dryden describes King Cinyras just as Ovid did as a man who had been happier if he had not become a father. Lee suggests that this is a direct parallel to James who could have been counted as happier if he had not had his daughter, Mary, who betrayed him and usurped his monarchical position. When describing the act of incest Dryden uses a monster metaphor. Those lines are suggested as aimed at William III who invaded England from the Netherlands and whose presence Dryden describes as a curse or a punishment, according to Lee. A little further on the [[Convention Parliament (1689)|Convention Parliament]] is indicted. Lee suggests that Dryden critiques the intrusiveness of the Convention Parliament, because it acted without constituted legal authority. Finally the daughter, Mary as Myrrha,{{efn|Lee notes the phonetic similarity of the names. If you switch the vowels "Myrrha" becomes "Mary".<ref name="Drydenpaper" />}} is described as an impious outcast from civilization, whose greatest sin was her disrupting the natural line of succession thereby breaking both natural as well as divine statutes which resulted in fundamental social confusion. When Myrrha craves and achieves her father's (Cinyras') bed, Lee sees a parallel to Mary's ascending James' throne: both daughters incestuously occupied the place which belonged to their fathers.<ref name="Drydenpaper" />

Reading the translation of the myth of Myrrha by Dryden as a comment on the political scene, states Lee, is partly justified by the characterization done by the historian [[Julian Hoppit]] on the events of the revolution of 1688:<ref name="Drydenpaper" />

<blockquote>
To most a monarch was God's earthly representative, chosen by Him for the benefit of His people. For men to meddle in that choice was to tamper with the divine order, the inevitable price of which was chaos.<ref name="Hoppit21-22">{{Harvnb|Hoppit|2002|pp=21–22}}</ref>
</blockquote>

===Music===
{{Listen|filename=Myrrha Gavotte 3.ogg|title=Myrrha Gavotte|description=A rendition of the piano reduction of Sousa's 1876 "Myrrha Gavotte".}}
In music, Myrrha was the subject of an 1876 band piece by [[John Philip Sousa]], ''Myrrha Gavotte''<ref name="Bierley236">{{Harvnb|Bierley|2001|p=236}}</ref> and in 1901, [[Maurice Ravel]] and [[André Caplet]] each wrote cantatas titled ''Myrrha''.<ref name="Ravel">{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/artist/maurice-ravel-q7873/works/all | title = Maurice Ravel | access-date = 2011-01-26 | work = Allmusic}}</ref><ref name="Caplet">{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/artist/andr-caplet-q1091/works/all | title = André Caplet | access-date = 2011-01-26 | work = Allmusic}}</ref> Caplet finished first over Ravel who was third in the [[Prix de Rome]] competition. The competition required that the candidates jumped through a series of academic hoops before entering the final where they were to compose a cantata on a prescribed text.<ref name='Ravel criticism'>{{cite news | first = Andrew | last = Clements | title = Classical CD releases | date = 2001-03-23 | publisher = Guardian News and Media | url = https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/mar/23/shopping1?INTCMP=SRCH | work = [[The Guardian]] | access-date = 2011-03-15}}</ref> Though it was not the best musical piece, the jury praised Ravel's work for its "melodic charm" and "sincerity of dramatic sentiment".<ref name="Orenstein35-36">{{Harvnb|Orenstein|1991|pp=35–36}}</ref> Musical critic Andrew Clements writing for ''The Guardian'' commented on Ravel's failures at winning the competition: "Ravel's repeated failure to win the Prix de Rome, the most coveted prize for young composers in France at the turn of the 20th century, has become part of musical folklore."<ref name="Ravel criticism"/>

Italian composer [[Domenico Alaleona]]'s only opera, premiering in 1920, was entitled ''Mirra''. The libretto drew on the legend of Myrrha while the music was inspired by [[Claude Debussy]]'s ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' (1902) as well as [[Richard Strauss]]' ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' (1909). Suffering from being monotonic, the final showdown between father and daughter, the critics commented, was the only part really making an impact.<ref name="The Guardian 2005">{{cite news | first = Tim | last = Ashley | title = Alaleona: Mirra: Mazzola-Gavezzeni/ Gertseva/ Malagnini/ Ferrari/ Chorus and Orchestra of Radio France/ Valcuh | date = 2005-04-08 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/apr/08/classicalmusicandopera.shopping?INTCMP=SRCH | work = The Guardian | access-date = 2011-01-30}}</ref> ''Mirra'' remains Alaleona's most ambitious composition and though the music tended to be "eclectic and uneven", it showed "technical enterprise".<ref name="Oxfordmusiconlinealaleona">{{cite encyclopedia | last = C.G. Waterhouse | first = John | encyclopedia = Grove Music Online | title = Alaleona, Domenico | publisher = Oxford University Press}}</ref>

More recently, Kristen Kuster created a choral orchestration, ''Myrrha'', written in 2004 and first performed at [[Carnegie Hall]] in 2006. Kuster stated that the idea for ''Myrrha'' came when she was asked by the [[American Composers Orchestra]] to write a love-and-erotica themed concert. The concert was inspired by the myth of Myrrha in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' and includes excerpts from the volume that "move in and out of the music as though in a dream, or perhaps Myrrha’s memory of the events that shaped her fate," as described by Kuster.<ref name="Kuster ACO">{{cite web | url = http://www.americancomposers.org/kuster_interview.htm | title = Myrrha in the Making | access-date = 2011-01-26 | work = [[American Composers Orchestra]] | quote = move in and out of the music as though in a dream, or perhaps Myrrha’s memory of the events that shaped her fate}}</ref><ref name="Kuster NYT">{{cite news | first = Allan | last = Kozinn | title = New Music From American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall | date = 2006-05-05 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/arts/music/05comp.html?_r=1&sq=myrrha&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=8&adxnnlx=1296069217-wG1nDOmuInI1KJtQ08Q4GA | work = The New York Times | access-date = 2011-01-26}}</ref>

=== Art ===

The ''Metamorphoses'' of Ovid has been illustrated by several artists through time. In 1563 in [[Frankfurt]], a [[German language|German]] bilingual translation by Johann Posthius was published, featuring the woodcuts of renowned German engraver [[Virgil Solis]]. The illustration of Myrrha depicts Myrrha's deceiving her father as well as her fleeing from him.<ref name='Solis'>{{cite web | url = http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/latin/ovid/about.html | title = Ovid Illustrated: The Reception of Ovid's Metamorphoses in Image and Text | access-date = 2011-02-27 | last = Kinney | first = Daniel |author2=Elizabeth Styron | publisher = University of Virginia Electronic Text Center}}</ref> In 1717 in London, a Latin-English edition of ''Metamorphoses'' was published, translated by [[Samuel Garth]] and with plates of French engraver [[Bernard Picart]]. The illustration of Myrrha was entitled ''The Birth of Adonis'' and featured Myrrha as a tree delivering Adonis while surrounded by women.<ref name='Picart picture'>{{cite web | url = http://etext.virginia.edu/latin/ovid/banier/banie098.html | title = Ovid Illustrated: The Reception of Ovid's Metamorphoses in Image and Text - Fab. X. ''Myrrha changed to a tree; the Birth of Adonis'' | access-date = 2011-03-17 | last = Kinney | first = Daniel |author2=Elizabeth Styron | publisher = University of Virginia Electronic Text Center}}</ref><ref name='Picart'>{{cite web | url = http://etext.virginia.edu/latin/ovid/banier.html | title = Ovid Illustrated: The Reception of Ovid's Metamorphoses in Image and Text - Abbé Banier's Ovid commentary Englished from Ovid's Metamorphoses (Garth tr., Amsterdam, 1732) | access-date = 2011-03-17 | last = Kinney | first = Daniel |author2=Elizabeth Styron | publisher = University of Virginia Electronic Text Center}}</ref><ref name='Garth preface'>{{cite web | url = http://etext.virginia.edu/latin/ovid/va1717/garth001.html | title = Ovid Illustrated: The Reception of Ovid's Metamorphoses in Image and Text - Preface of Garth Translation (London, 1717) and Banier-Garth (Amsterdam, 1732) | access-date = 2011-03-17 | last = Kinney | first = Daniel |author2=Elizabeth Styron | publisher = University of Virginia Electronic Text Center}}</ref> In 1857 French engraver [[Gustave Doré]] made a series of illustrations to Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', the depiction of Myrrha showing her in the eighth circle of Hell.<ref name="Alighieri205-210"/><ref name="Roosevelt212-227">{{Harvnb|Roosevelt|1885|pp=212–227}}</ref>

In 1690, Italian [[Baroque painting|Baroque]] painter [[Marcantonio Franceschini]] depicted Myrrha as a tree while delivering Adonis in ''The Birth of Adonis''. The painting was included in the art exhibition "Captured Emotions: Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575-1725" at the [[J. Paul Getty Museum]] at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California which lasted from December 16, 2008 through May 3, 2009. Normally the painting is exhibited in the [[Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden]] (English: Dresden State Art Collections) in Germany as a part of the ''[[Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister]]'' (English: Old Masters Picture Gallery).<ref name='Artknowledge'>{{cite web | url = http://www.artknowledgenews.com/jpaulgettymuseumcapturedemotionshtml.html | title = Captured Emotions: Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575-1725 Opens at the Getty Museum | access-date = 2011-03-15 | work = Art Knowledge News | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110427211956/http://www.artknowledgenews.com/jpaulgettymuseumcapturedemotionshtml.html | archive-date = 2011-04-27 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name='Getty Museum'>{{cite web | url = http://www.getty.edu/news/press/captured_emotions/captured_emotions_object_list.pdf | title = Object list: Captured Emotions: Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575–1725 | access-date = 2011-03-15 | publisher = The [[J. Paul Getty Museum]], [[Getty Center]] and [[Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden]] | archive-date = 2010-07-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100713223643/https://www.getty.edu/news/press/captured_emotions/captured_emotions_object_list.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In 1984, artist [[Mel Chin]] created a sculpture based on Doré's illustration of Myrrha for the ''Divine Comedy''. The sculpture was titled "''Myrrha of the Post Industrial World''" and depicted a nude woman sitting on a rectangular pedestal. It was an outdoor project in Bryant Park, and the skin of the sculpture was made of perforated steel. Inside was a visible skeleton of [[polystyrene]]. When finished, the sculpture was 29 feet tall.<ref name="Times 1984">{{cite news | first = Susan | last = Heller Anderson |author2=David Bird | title = The See-Through Woman Of Bryant Park | date = 1984-08-14 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/14/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-the-see-through-woman-of-bryant-park.html?scp=4&sq=myrrha&st=cse | work = The New York Times | access-date = 2011-01-26}}</ref>

===Science===
[[File:P1100358 Myrrha octodecimguttata.jpg|thumb|right|The [[18-spot ladybird]] is linked to Myrrha in its scientific name, ''Myrrha octodecimguttata''.]]
Several [[Metamorphosis|metamorphosing]] insects' [[binomial name|scientific names]] reference the myth. ''[[Myrrha (beetle)|Myrrha]]'' is a [[genus]] of [[ladybug]] beetles, such as the [[18-spot ladybird]] (''Myrrha octodecimguttata'').<ref>{{cite web |title=Checklist of Beetles of the British Isles |year=2008 |last1=A. G. |first1=Duff |access-date=2011-02-02 |publisher=The Coleopterist |url=http://coleopterist.org.uk/checklist2008%20A5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705155707/http://www.coleopterist.org.uk/checklist2008%20A5.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Libythea myrrha]]'', the club beak, is a butterfly native to India. ''[[Polyommatus myrrha]]'' is a rare species of butterfly named by [[Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer]] found on [[Mount Erciyes]] in south-eastern Turkey.<ref>{{LepIndex |id=202492 |name=Cupido myrrha}} Retrieved April 21, 2018.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Naturhistorisches Museum (Austria)|author-link1= Naturhistorisches Museum|title=Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien|trans-title=Museum of Natural History of Vienna annual|url= https://archive.org/details/annalendesnaturh20natu|publisher=Wien, Naturhistorisches Museum|volume=20|page=[https://archive.org/details/annalendesnaturh20natu/page/197 197]|year=1905|language=de|quote='Zwei ♂ dieser seltenen Art aus dem Erdschias-Gebiet' Translation:Two males of these rare species from the Erciyes region.}}</ref> ''Catocala myrrha'' is a synonym for a species of moth known as [[Catocala myrrha|married underwing]].{{efn|Scientific names may change over time as animals are reclassified and the current standard scientific name for the married underwing is Catocala nuptialias. Catocala myrrha is a scientific synonym of Catocala nuptialis.<ref name="Gall">{{cite journal |last1=Gall |first1=Lawrence F |last2=Hawks |first2=David C. |year=1990 |title=Systematics of Moths in the Genus ''Catocala'' (Lepidoptera: ''Noctuidae''). |journal=Fieldiana |issue=1414 |pages=12 |publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |url=http://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/oca/Books2008-01/hoplomyzonsexpap/hoplomyzonsexpap59taph/hoplomyzonsexpap59taph_djvu.txt |access-date=2011-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720085231/http://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/oca/Books2008-01/hoplomyzonsexpap/hoplomyzonsexpap59taph/hoplomyzonsexpap59taph_djvu.txt |archive-date=2011-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/commonnames.htm | title = Catocala: Classification and Common Names | access-date = 2011-01-30 | last = Oehlke | first = Bill | work = P. E. I. R. T. A.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Catocala-nuptialis | title = Attributes of Catocala nuptialis | access-date = 2011-01-30 | work = Butterflies and Moths of North America}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2010/details/species/id/1099716 | title = Catocala myrrha | access-date = 2011-01-30 | work = Catalogue of Life - 2010 Annual Checklist}}</ref> In total the United Kingdom's [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] lists seven [[Lepidoptera]] (moths and butterflies) with the myrrha name.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/lepindex/search/list/?indexed_from=1&page_no=1&page_size=30&search_type=starts&snoc=myrrha |title=LepIndex - The Global Lepidoptera Names Index for taxon myrrha|author=Natural History Museum, London|author-link=Natural History Museum, London |access-date=2018-05-15}}</ref>

Myrrh is a bitter-tasting, aromatic, yellow to reddish brown gum. It is obtained from small thorny flowering trees of the genus ''[[Commiphora]]'', which is a part of the incense-tree family ([[Burseraceae]]). There are two main varieties of myrrh: bisabol and herabol. Bisabol is produced by ''[[Commiphora erythraea|C. erythraea]]'', an Arabian species similar to the ''[[Commiphora myrrha|C. myrrha]]'', which produces the herabol myrrh. ''C. myrrha'' grows in [[Ethiopia]], Arabia, and [[Somalia]].<ref name="Britannica vol 8" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Species identity - Commiphora myrrha |access-date=2011-02-02 |publisher=International center for research in agroforestry |url=http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/products/afdbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=17990 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930043102/http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/products/afdbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=17990 |archive-date=2011-09-30 }}</ref>

A large asteroid, measuring {{convert|124|km|mi|0}} is named [[381 Myrrha]]. It was discovered and named on January 10, 1894 by A. Charlois at Nice. The mythical Myrrha inspired the name and her son, Adonis, is the name given to another asteroid, [[2101 Adonis]].<ref name="Lewis371">{{Harvnb|Lewis|Prinn|1984|p=371}}</ref><ref name="Schmadel372">{{Harvnb|Schmadel|2003|p=372}}</ref> Using classical names like Myrrha, [[3 Juno|Juno]], and [[4 Vesta|Vesta]] when naming minor planets was standard custom at the time when 381 Myrrha was discovered. It was the general opinion that using numbers instead might lead to unnecessary confusion.<ref name="Schmadel4-5">{{Harvnb|Schmadel|2003|pp=4–5}}</ref>
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