Cycnus (son of Apollo)

For other uses, see Cycnus.

In Greek mythology, Cycnus (Ancient Greek: Κύκνος "swan") or Cygnus was the Aetolian son of Apollo by Hyrie or Thyrie, daughter of Amphinomus.

Cycnus and Hyrie by Wilhelm Janson and Antonio Tempesta (1606)

Mythology

According to Antoninus Liberalis, Cycnus lived in the country between Pleuron and Calydon, where he devoted most of his time to hunting. He was handsome but arrogant, and he treated with disdain the many youths who fell in love with him and sought his attention. In time all of them abandoned him—all except Phylius, whose devotion kept him at Cycnus's side.

Still unmoved, Cycnus set Phylius three seemingly impossible tasks in the hope of driving him away. The first was to kill a lion that was menacing the neighbourhood, and to do so without weapons. Phylius consumed a great deal of food and wine and then vomited it onto the spot where the lion usually appeared; the beast ate the offering, grew intoxicated, and Phylius strangled it with his own clothes.

The second task was to capture two man-eating vultures of enormous size that posed an equal threat, again without any devices. While Phylius was puzzling over how to manage it, he saw an eagle accidentally drop its prey, a dead hare, to the ground. He smeared himself with the hare's blood and lay still, feigning death; when the vultures attacked, he seized them by the feet and carried them to Cycnus.

The final task was to bring a bull to the altar of Zeus with his bare hands. Unable to devise a method, Phylius prayed to Heracles for help, and presently saw two bulls fighting over a heifer. He waited until both had fallen to the ground exhausted, then grabbed one by the legs and dragged it to the altar.

At this point Heracles caused Phylius to obey Cycnus's orders no longer. Feeling disgraced, Cycnus drowned himself in a lake called Conope, and his mother Thyrie did the same. Apollo changed them both into swans, and the lake came to be known as the Swan Lake; when Phylius later died, he was buried beside it.

Ovid also incorporates the story of Cycnus and Phylius in his Metamorphoses. In his version, Phylius performs the three tasks but refuses to hand over the tamed bull. Scorned, Cycnus throws himself off a cliff, but is transformed into a swan as he falls and flies away. His mother Hyrie, unaware of the transformation and believing him dead, dissolves in tears and is changed into the lake Hyrie.

See also

• Timagoras
• Narcissus
• Euxynthetus

References

• Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.