Cycnus
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- A A king of the Ligurians, son of Sthenelus, related to Phaeton, who was changed to a swan and placed among the stars, Ov. M. 2, 367; Verg. A. 10, 189; cf. Hyg. Fab. 154; id. Astr. 3, 7. —
- B A son of Neptune and Calyce; he was father of Tenes, and was changed into a swan, Ov. M. 12, 72 sq., cf. Hyg. Fab. 157.
- 1. in een zwaan veranderde en aan de sterrenhemel geplaatste koning v. Ligurië, zoon v. Sthenelus;
- 2. in een zwaan veranderde zoon v. Neptunus; / adj. Cycnēius, a, um.
(Κύκνος).
1. A son of Apollo by Thyria or Hyria, the daughter of Amphinomus. He was a handsome hunter, living in the district between Pleuron and Calydon, and although beloved by many, repulsed all his lovers, and only one, Cycnus, persevered in his love. Cycnus at last imposed upon him three labours, viz. to kill a lion without weapons, to catch alive some monstrous vultures which devoured men, and with his own hand to lead a bull to the altar of Zeus. Phyllius accomplished these tasks, but as, in accordance with a request of Heracles, he refused giving to Phyllius a bull which he had received as a prize, Cycnus was exasperated at the refusal, and leaped into lake Canope, which was henceforth called after him the Cycnean lake. His mother Thyria followed him, and both were metamorphosed by Apollo into swans. (Antonin. Lib. 12.) Ovid (Ov. Met. 7.371, &c.), who relates the same story, makes the Cycnean lake arise from Hyria melting away in tears at the death of her son.
2. A son of Poseidon by Calyce (Calycia), Harpale, or Scamandrodice. (Hyg. Fab. 157; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 2.147; Tzetz. ad Lycop/h. 233.) He was born in secret, and was exposed on the sea-coast, where he was found by shepherds, who seeing a swan descending upon him, called him Cycnus. When he had grown up to manhood, he became king of Colonae in Troas, and married Procleia, the daughter of Laomedon or of Clytius (Paus. 10.14.2), by whom he became the father of Tenes and Hemithea. Dictys Cretensis (2.13) mentions different children. After the death of Procleia, he married Philonome, a daughter of Craugasus, who fell in love with Tenes, her stepson, and not being listened to by him calumniated him, so that Cycnus in his anger threw his son together with Hemithea in a chest into the sea. According to others Cycnus himself leaped into the sea. (Verg. A. 2.21.) Afterwards, when Cycnus learned the truth respecting his wife's conduct, he killed Philonome and went to his son, who had landed in the island of Tenedos, and had become king there. According to some traditions, Tenes did not allow his father to land, but cut off the anchor. (Conon, Narrat. 28; Paus. 10.14.2.) In the war of the Greeks against Troy, both Cycnus and Tenes assisted the Trojans, but both were slain by Achilles. As Cycnus could not be wounded by iron, Achilles strangled him with the thong of his helmet, or by striking him with a stone. (Comp. Diod. 5.83; Strab. xiii. p.604; Schol. ad Theocrit. 16.49; Dict. Cret. 2.12, &c.; Ov. Met. 12.144.) Ovid adds, that the body of Cycnus disappeared and was changed into a swan, when Achilles came to take away his armour.
3. A son of Ares and Pelopia, challenged Heracles to single combat at Itone, and was killed in the contest. (Apollod. 2.7.7; Hesiod. Scut. Herc. 345, where Cycnus is a son-in-law of Ceyx, to whom Heracles is going.)
4. A son of Ares and Pyrene, was likewise killed by Heracles in single combat. (Apollod. 2.5.11; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 11.19.) At his death he was changed by his father Ares into a swan. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 254.) The last two personages are often confounded with each other, on account of the resemblance existing between the stories about them. (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 2.147, ad Aristoph. Ran. 963; Hyg. Fab. 31; Athen. 9.393.)
5. A son of Sthenelus, king of the Ligurians, and a friend and relation of Phaeton. He was the father of Cinyras and Cupauo. While he was lamenting the fate of Phaeton on the banks of the Eridanus, he was metamorphosed by Apollo into a swan, and placed among the stars. (Ov. Meet. 2.366, &c.; Paus. 1.30.3; Serv. ad Aen. 10.189.) A sixth personage of the name of Cycnus is mentioned by Hyginus. (Fab. 97.) [L.S]
(Κύκνος, “Swan”). (1) The son of Ares and Pelopia, who threw himself in the way of Heracles in Trachis, when the hero was on his way to Ceyx. According to another story, Heracles was sent against Cycnus by Apollo, because he lay in wait for the processions on their road to Delphi. In the contest between them, as described by Hesiod in his Shield of Heracles, Ares stood by the side of his son, while Heracles was supported by Athené and his faithful Iolaüs. Heracles slew Cycnus and even wounded Ares, when the latter attempted to avenge the fall of his son. Cycnus was buried with all due honours by his father-inlaw Ceyx, but Apollo destroyed the tomb by an inundation of the river Anaurus. There was a son of Ares and Pyrené who bore the same name, and he too was said to have fallen in combat against Heracles. Ares attempted to avenge his son, when Zeus, by a flash of lightning, separated his angry children. After his death, so ran the story, Cycnus was changed by his father into a swan.
(2) The son of Poseidon and Calycé. He was exposed by his mother on the sea-shore and found by some fishermen, who named him Cycnus because they saw a swan flying round him. He was invulnerable and of gigantic strength and stature; his head (or, according to another account, his whole body) was as white as snow. He became king of Colonae in the Troad, and was twice married. A slanderous utterance of his second wife stung him to fury against the children of his first wife, so that he threw them into the sea in a chest. They were cast up alive on the island of Tenedos, where Tenes was king. At a later time Cycnus repented of his deed, sought for his son, and marched with him to the aid of the Trojans against the Greeks. They prevented the Greeks from landing; but both were at last slain by Achilles, who strangled the invulnerable Cycnus with his own helmetstrap. He was changed by Poseidon into a swan.