According to Greek mythological legend, Phoebus Apollo, god of the sun, was the lover of the water-nymph, Clytie. When Apollo abandoned her she suffered such grief that she sat on the bank of a river for 9 days and 9 nights, without food, water or sleep, watching Apollo's chariot from dawn to dusk, waiting at night for the sun to rise again. The gods finally took pity on her and changed her into a flower. They named the flower heliotrope--the flower which followed the sun, from the Greek helios-- sun, and tropos, turn. And since that time the heliotrop is considered a symbol of eternal love and admiration.