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 .
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Cycnus, son of Ares.
[Pausanias, 1.27.6]
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Cycnus, king of Kolonai.
[Strabo, 13.1.19] Son of Poseidon.
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Cycnus, lover of Phaethon.
[Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.367 sqq.]
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Cycnus, son of Apollo.
[Antoninus Liberalis, 12]
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Cycnus, son of King Ederion (Ancient Greek: Ἐδερίων) or Eredion of Achaea, who, in the 6th century CE account of John Malalas, seduced Leda and made her mother of triplets: the Dioscuri and Helen.
[John Malalas, 82.17; Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 88– 89] In all other sources, she had these children by Zeus who approached her in the shape of a swan ( kyknos). For more information, see Leda and the Swan.
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Cycnus, one of the Suitors of Penelope who came from Dulichium along with other 56 wooers.
[Apollodorus, E.7.26– 27] He, with the other suitors, was shot dead by Odysseus with the assistance of Eumaeus, Philoetius, and Telemachus.[Apollodorus, E.7.33]
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Cycnus, a blunder for Guneus in the manuscript of Hyginus
[ Fabulae 97] (list of the Achaean leaders against Troy).
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[Catasterismi, Catasterismi 25] or Nemesis.[Hyginus, De astronomia 2.8.1] 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.
Notes
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Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
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Gaius Julius Hyginus, Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
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Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Ovid, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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