Cycnus
- 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, “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.