In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 Chione (English translation

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: "snow white") was the daughter of Daedalion

Daedalion

In Greek mythology, Daedalion was a son of Hesperos and brother of Ceyx. He is described as a cruel and warlike man. His daughter Chione was so beautiful that both Apollo and Hermes impregnated her. She then became vain and boasted that she was more beautiful than Artemis. When Artemis killed her...

. She was very beautiful, and had countless suitors, including the gods Apollo and Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

. Apollo waited for nightfall and then approached her in the guise of an old woman. Hermes put her to sleep and raped her. She became pregnant with twins, one (Autolycus

Autolycus

In Greek mythology, Autolycus was a son of Hermes and Chione. He was the husband of Neaera, or according to Homer, of Amphithea...

) the son of Hermes, and the other (Philammon

Philammon

In Greek mythology, Philammon was the son of Chione and Apollo. Some say his mother was Leuconoe, daughter of Eosphoros, or Philonis, daughter of either Deion or of Eosphoros and Cleoboea. He was an excellent musician, a talent he received from his father...

), the son of Apollo. Chione became so vain she compared her beauty favorably to that of Artemis

Artemis

Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...

, whereupon the goddess shot and killed her with an arrow. Daedalion grieved so much at his daughter's death that he flung himself down from a peak of Mount Parnassus

Mount Parnassus

Mount Parnassus, also Parnassos , is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs,...

and was transformed by Apollo into a hawk.