Cycnus
Encyclopedia
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, four people were known as Cycnus or Cygnus
Cygnus (constellation)
Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way. Its name is the Latinized Hellenic word for swan. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross...
. Most of them ended up being transformed into swan
Swan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
s. The most famous Cycnus however, was the son of Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
.
Son of Ares
Cycnus (Κύκνος) was sired upon PelopiaPelopia
In Greek mythology, Pelopia was a name attributed to four individuals:- Daughter of Thyestes :Pelopia, less commonly known as Mnesiphae, was the daughter of Thyestes. Thyestes had been fighting with his brother, Atreus, for the throne of Mycenae for some time, as well as having an affair with...
or Pyrene. Cycnus was a bloodthirsty and cruel man in Pagasae
Pagasae
Pagasae was a coastal city in ancient Magnesia , now a suburb of the modern city of Volos. It flourished in the 400s and 300s BC. The only usable harbor in Thessaly was located on the Gulf of Pagasae, as it was known in antiquity...
, Thessaly or in Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ia according to Apollodorus
Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)
The Bibliotheca , in three books, provides a comprehensive summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends, "the most valuable mythographical work that has come down from ancient times," Aubrey Diller observed, whose "stultifying purpose" was neatly expressed in the epigram noted by...
, who was so murderous he aspired to build a temple to his father constructed from the skulls and bones of travelers, whom Cycnus would kill in passing. His building days came to an end however, when Cycnus encountered Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
near the River Echedorus. Desiring to please his father, Cycnus challenged Heracles to single combat, wishing to add Heracles's bones to his temple. This was an extremely foolish move, as Cycnus should have recalled the numerous times in which Heracles bested his father in combat.
When Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
heard of Cycnus and Heracles's confrontation, he was furious, and rushed immediately to assist his son. However, he was stopped by Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, who advised him to wait and hear what the Moirae
Moirae
The Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...
, the Fates, had in store for Cycnus. The Fates told Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
and Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
that Cycnus would be slain by Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
unless the hero was killed before then. These words, designed to halt Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
from going to help his son, in fact fueled his anger even more. After Heracles kills Cycnus, Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
descended immediately to avenge him. Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
was just about to strike a hit at the hero, when Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
appeared, and blocked Ares's hit. Heracles took this opportunity to wound Ares in the thigh and beat him to the ground, which causes his sons Phobos
Phobos (mythology)
Phobos is the personification of horror in Greek mythology. He is the offspring of Ares and Aphrodite. He was known for accompanying Ares into battle along with his brother, Deimos, the goddess Enyo, and his father’s attendants. Timor is his Roman equivalent...
and Deimos
Deimos (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Deimos was the personification of terror.He was the son of Ares and Aphrodite. He is the twin brother of Phobos and the goddess Enyo who accompanied Ares into battle, as well as his father's attendants, Trembling, Fear, Dread, and Panic...
to rescue him and take him back to Mount Olympus. Cycnus was indeed killed by Heracles as the Fates predicted, and his bone-built temple was never completed.
Cycnus and Phaeton
This Cycnus was the son of SthenelusSthenelus
In Greek mythology, Sthenelus was a name attributed to several different individuals.*Son of Perseus and Andromeda, and king of Mycenae.*Son of Capaneus and Evadne, he fought alongside Diomedes and the other Argives in the Trojan War and was one of the men who hid in the Trojan horse...
and a good friend or lover of Phaeton
Phaëton
In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon was the son of Helios and the Oceanid Clymene. Alternate, less common genealogies make him a son of Clymenus by Merope, of Helios and Rhode or of Helios and Prote....
. After Phaeton died, he dove repeatedly into the river Eridanos
Eridanos (mythology)
The river Eridanos or Eridanus is a river mentioned in Greek mythology. Virgil considered it one of the rivers of Hades in his Aeneid VI, 659.-Ancient references:...
attempting to retrieve Phaeton's body. The gods turned him into a swan to relieve him of his pity.
King of Kolonai
As king of the town of Kolonai in the southern Troad, Cycnus was the son of PoseidonPoseidon
Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
by Calyce
Calyce (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Kalyke , Calyce or Calycia is the name of several characters.*A daughter of Aeolus and Enarete. Some sources state that she was the mother of Endymion, king of Elis, by her husband Aethlius, king of Elis or by Zeus...
(daughter of Hecaton
Hecaton
In Greek mythology, Hecaton was the father of Calyce, who was seduced by the god Poseidon and bore him a son named Cycnus. This character Hecaton is otherwise unknown, but the name may be connected with the Hecatonnesoi , in the Adramyttian Gulf....
), Harpale, or by Scamandrodice. Cycnus married first Procleia
Proclia
In Greek mythology Proclia or Proclea is the daughter of Laomedon, king of Troy, or Clytius, son of Laomedon . She married Cycnus, king of Colonae, and bore him two children, Tenes and Hemithea....
, daughter of Laomedon
Laomedon
In Greek mythology, Laomedon was a Trojan king, son of Ilus, brother of Ganymede and Assaracus, and father of Priam, Astyoche, Lampus, Hicetaon, Clytius, Cilla, Proclia, Aethilla, Medesicaste, Clytodora, and Hesione...
(King of Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
) or of Laomedon's son Clytius
Clytius
Clytius is the name of many people in Greek mythology:# A son of Laomedon, brother of Priam, and an elder of Troy.# A young soldier in the army of Turnus who is loved by Cydon in Virgil's Aeneid, and was killed by Aeneas...
. Cycnus and Procleia had two children, named Tenes
Tenes
In Greek mythology, Tenes was the eponymous hero of the island of Tenedos. He was the son either of Apollo or of King Cycnus of Colonae by Proclia, daughter or granddaughter of Laomedon. Cycnus' second wife Philonome, daughter of Tragasus or Cragasus, falsely accused Tenes of rape, bringing in a...
and Hemithea
Hemithea
Hemithea is a genus of moth in the family Geometridae.-Species:* Hemithea aestivaria * Hemithea antigrapha Prout, 1917* Hemithea aquamarina Hampson, 1895* Hemithea insularia Guenée, 1857...
; although Tenes claimed the god Apollo as his father. On Procleia's death, Cycnus married Philonome
Philonome
Philonome is a genus of moths in the family Lyonetiidae.-Species:*Philonome albella *Philonome clemensella Chambers, 1874*Philonome luteella -External links:*...
, daughter of Tragasus
Tragasus
In Greek mythology, Tragasus was the father of Philonome, the deceitful wife of Cycnus, King of Colonae in the Troad. The name Tragasus may be connected with the Tragasaean salt-pan near Hamaxitus, mentioned by Strabo, which was located south of Troy....
; but Philonome fell in love with her handsome stepson, Tenes. Tenes rejected Philonome's advances; whereupon Philonome falsely accused Tenes before her husband of having ravished her. However, Cycnus discovered the truth and had Philonome buried alive. Both Cycnus and Tenes later supported the Trojans
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
in the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, and fought valiantly. It was said that Cycnus being the son of Poseidon he was invulnerable to spear and sword attack. When Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
confronted Cycnus he could not kill him via conventional weaponry so he crushed and suffocated him. After his death, Cycnus was changed into a swan. According to some accounts he killed the Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
hero Protesilaus
Protesilaus
In Greek mythology, Protesilaus , was a hero in the Iliad who was venerated at cult sites in Thessaly and Thrace. Protesilaus was the son of Iphicles, a "lord of many sheep"; as grandson of the eponymous Phylacos, he was the leader of the Phylaceans...
.