Cycnus

In Greek mythology, several characters were known as Cycnus (Ancient Greek: Κύκνος) or Cygnus. The literal meaning of the name is "swan", and accordingly most of them ended up being transformed into swans.

According to Pseudo-Eratosthenes and Hyginus' Poetical Astronomy, the constellation Cygnus was the stellar image of the swan Zeus had transformed into in order to seduce Leda[9] or Nemesis.[10] Pausanias and Servius state that Apollo turned Cycnus of Liguria into a swan after the death of his lover Phaeton, then later placed him among the stars as the constellation Cygnus.[11][12][13]

Notes

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  1. ^ Pausanias, 1.27.6
  2. ^ Strabo, 13.1.19
  3. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.367 sqq.
  4. ^ Antoninus Liberalis, 12
  5. ^ Malalas, 82.17; Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 8889
  6. ^ Apollodorus, E.7.2627
  7. ^ Apollodorus, E.7.33
  8. ^ Fabulae 97
  9. ^ Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterismi 25
  10. ^ Hyginus, De astronomia 2.8.1
  11. ^ Pausanias. Description of Greece. 1.30.3.
  12. ^ Maurus Servius Honoratus. On Aeneid. 10.189.
  13. ^ Grimal, Pierre; Kershaw, Stephen (1990). A concise dictionary of classical mythology. Internet Archive (Reprint. 1994 ed.). Oxford, England ; Cambridge, Mass., USA : Blackwell. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-631-16696-2. Retrieved 2024-11-02.

References

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  • Media related to Cycnus at Wikimedia Commons