Nisus
A king of Megara whose city was invulnerable as long as a magical purple lock of hair remained on his head, betrayed when his daughter Scylla cut it for love of Minos
The Legend of Nisus
Nisus was the king of Megara and the son of Pandion, a former king of Athens. His city was protected by a divine secret: among his hair grew a single lock of purple or crimson, and as long as this lock remained on his head, Megara could never be conquered. When King Minos of Crete besieged Megara during his punitive war against the mainland, the siege dragged on without resolution because of the magical protection. However, Nisus's daughter Scylla fell desperately in love with Minos, whom she watched from the city walls. To win his favour, Scylla crept into her father's chamber as he slept and cut the purple lock from his head. With the enchantment broken, Megara fell to the Cretan forces. But rather than rewarding Scylla, Minos was horrified by her treachery against her own father. He rejected her and sailed away. Scylla threw herself into the sea and clung to his ship, but Nisus, transformed into a sea eagle, swooped down upon her. She was changed into the bird ciris, forever pursued by her father across the waves.
Parents
Pandion
Children
Scylla of Megara
Symbols
Fun Fact
The purple lock of Nisus is one of several magical hair motifs in mythology, paralleling the story of Samson in the Hebrew Bible
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