In Greek mythology, Cyparissus, son of Telephus, was one of Apollo's homosexual lovers. Apollo gave the boy a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin as it lay sleep in the undergrowth. Cyparissus asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Apollo turned the sad boy into a cypress tree, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk.
