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Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University

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hyta. 611 On the other hand, the swan could be linked to the underworld and dying mortals due to<br />

its funeral song, 612 and the swan cap and wings may perhaps be meant to denote its connection to<br />

the underworld and its transitional nature. In this case, perhaps we should read the object held<br />

by the youth in Fig. VI.7 as a pine cone, a symbol of fertility often used as a grave stele. The<br />

pouring out of the pitcher and the presence of a patera could then be interpreted as an offering<br />

made for the deceased.<br />

The last two possibilities, Cygnus and Ganymede, may be the most likely identifications<br />

of the “Swan Demon.” As Picus was transformed into a woodpecker, Cygnus was a mortal who<br />

was transformed into a swan, and the cap worn by this figure may be a shorthand way of<br />

representing this metamorphosis. For reasons which she does not state, Richardson proposes that<br />

this figure has nothing to do with the Cygnus myth, 613 but this denial necessitates examination.<br />

A.L. Brown notes the presence of ten or more characters named Cygnus in the repertoire of<br />

classical myth, 614 but the tale of a man taking on the form of a swan appears in Vergil’s<br />

Aeneid 615 and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ovid records the story of the Ligurian Cygnus, cousin of<br />

Phaethon, in Metamorphoses Book II.<br />

Stheneleian Cygnus was present at this portentous event,<br />

who, although related by the blood of your mother,<br />

was nevertheless more like Phaethon in mind. Having<br />

left behind his empire (for he ruled the Ligurians and their great cities),<br />

he filled the green banks and the water of the Eridanus<br />

and the wood augmented by his sisters with mourning.<br />

When his voice grew thin, and feathers<br />

hid his white hair, and his neck was extended by a long breast<br />

and a web joined his rosy fingers,<br />

feathers covered his side, and his mouth held a dull beak.<br />

Cygnus had become a new bird… 616<br />

611<br />

Brown 1971, 334.<br />

612<br />

Arnott 1977, 149-53.<br />

613<br />

Richardson 1983, 362.<br />

614<br />

Brown 1996, 417-8. Ahl (1982, 387) identifies seven distinct mythical figures named Cygnus.<br />

615<br />

Verg. Aen. X.189-92.<br />

616<br />

Ov. Met. II.367-77. Latin Text taken from Ovid Metamorphoses Books I-VIII, Vol. 3, edited by G.P. Goold, Loeb<br />

Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard <strong>University</strong> Press, 1999, p. 84, 86. (Translation by Author.)<br />

Adfuit huic monstro proles Stheneleia Cygnus, / qui tibi materno quamvis a sanguine iunctus, / mente tamen,<br />

Phaethon, propior fuit. Ille relicto / (nam Ligurum populos et magnas rexerat urbes) / imperio ripas virides<br />

amnemque querellis / Eridanum implerat silvamque sororibus auctam, / cum vox est tenuata viro, canaeque capillos<br />

/ dissimulant plumae, collumque a pectore longe / porrigitur, digitosque ligat iunctura rubentes, / penna latus velat,<br />

tenet os sine acumine rostrum. / Fit nova Cygnus avis…<br />

122

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