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 swans.
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[9] or Nemesis.
[10] 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.
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