Apollo and Cyrene
Apollo sees the huntress Cyrene fighting a lion and carries her to Libya, where she becomes associated with the city of Cyrene and bears Aristaeus.
The Story
Cyrene was a remarkable huntress who preferred the wild countryside to the ordinary domestic life expected of women in heroic tradition.
She became famous for her strength and courage.
According to the best-known account, Apollo saw Cyrene struggling with a lion.
She was fighting the animal without weapons.
The sight immediately attracted the god's attention.
Apollo sought advice concerning the extraordinary woman he had seen.
The encounter ultimately brought Apollo and Cyrene together.
Apollo carried Cyrene away from Greece to Libya in North Africa.
There she became closely associated with the land that would later contain the Greek city of Cyrene.
The connection between the heroine and the city became an important part of its mythological identity.
Cyrene and Apollo also became parents of Aristaeus.
Aristaeus developed a very different divine identity from that of his father.
He became associated with practical rural skills, especially pastoral life, agriculture and beekeeping.
Through Aristaeus the story of Apollo and Cyrene also connects with another famous mythological family.
Aristaeus became the father of Actaeon, the hunter whose encounter with Artemis ended in his destruction.
Cyrene therefore stands at an interesting point between heroic and divine mythology.
She is remembered as an exceptionally powerful huntress in her own right, as a companion of Apollo, as the mother of Aristaeus and as the mythological figure associated with the foundation traditions of Cyrene in Libya.
Key Figures
Why It Matters
The story connects Cyrene with Apollo, explains her association with the Greek city of Cyrene in Libya and establishes the parentage of Aristaeus. It also links the Apollo tradition with the later Actaeon cycle.
Traditions & Variations
Cyrene's genealogy and the details of her removal to Libya vary among ancient traditions. Pindar's ninth Pythian ode provides the most celebrated account of Apollo seeing Cyrene fight a lion and taking her to Libya.