As recorded in Pindar's ninth Pythian ode, Cyrene was the daughter of Hypseus, king of the Lapiths,[2] and the naiad Chlidanope.

She was a fierce huntress, called by Nonnus, a "deer-chasing second Artemis, the girl lionkiller" and "a champion in the leafy forest with lionslaying hands".

[9] In Thesmophoriazusae (written by Aristophanes) Mnesilochus comments that he "can't see a man there at all - only Cyrene" when setting eyes upon the poet Agathon who has dressed in women's clothing and accessorised himself with male and female attributes.

[11] Pindar describes her in his Pythian Ode:And by Hypseus was reared this maid, Cyrene of the lovely arms.

But the bronze-tipped javelin and the sword called her to combat and slay the wild animals of the field; and in truth many a day she gave of peaceful quiet to her father's livestock.

[12]And Aphrodite of the silver feet welcomed this guest from Delos, laying the touch of her light hand upon his god-built car, and over the sweet bliss of their bridal she spread love's shy and winsome modesty, plighting in joint wedlock the god and maiden daughter of wide-ruling Hypseus...That very day saw the decision, and in a chamber of rich gold in Libya they lay together.

[12]In North Africa, Apollo founded the city Cyrene in the region of Cyrenaica, both named after his lover.

[16] In Callimachus and Acesander's account, when Eurypylus was still ruling Libya, a monstrous lion had terrorized the citizens greatly.