Myrrha, the daughter of Cinyrus, King of Cyprus, having become
pregnant, was driven from home by her father, and fled to Arabia. The
story told by Ovid is that she had conceived a criminal passion for her
father, and that by deception she had taken her mother’s place by his
side one night. Lost in the desert and overcome by remorse, she had
prayed the gods to grant that she should no longer remain among the
living, nor be counted with the dead. Touched with pity for her, they
changed her into the tree which yields the gum which to this day bears
her name.