Cygnus

or Cycnus, sig'nus, in Greek mythology, an intimate friend of Phaeton, who, having borrowed the chariot of his father, Phoebus Apollo, nearly set the world on fire. Phaeton was slain by a thunderbolt of Jove and fell headlong into the great river Eridanus. Cygnus mourned long and deeply for his friend. He would spend hours wandering on the shores of the river which had received Phaeton's body. Frequently he would plunge into the waters, occasionally bringing to the surface some ghastly relic of the disaster. Finally, in pity or in anger, the gods changed him into a great bird. Still he sailed pensively about upon the river where his friend was drowned, often bending his long white neck and thrusting his head below the surface, as though still searching for some sad trophy of the beloved Phaeton. This is the way swans came into the world.