Cycnus

The butterfly genus Cycnus is now synonymized with Panthiades.

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.

• Cycnus, son of Ares.^[1]
• Cycnus, king of Kolonai.^[2] Son of Poseidon.
• Cycnus, lover of Phaethon.^[3]
• Cycnus, son of Apollo.^[4]
• 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.^{[5][AI-generated source?]} 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.
• Cycnus, one of the Suitors of Penelope who came from Dulichium along with other 56 wooers.^[6] He, with the other suitors, was shot dead by Odysseus with the assistance of Eumaeus, Philoetius, and Telemachus.^[7]
• Cycnus, a blunder for Guneus in the manuscript of Hyginus^[8] (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^[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.^[11][12][13]