Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



" Not far from the Academe is a monument 

 of Plato to whom the god foretold his future 

 greatness in philosophy. He did it thus : In 

 the night before Plato was to become the 

 pupil of Sokrates, the latter in a dream saw 

 a swan take refuge in his bosom. Now the 

 swan has a reputation for music, because a man 

 who loved music very much, Kuknos, the king 

 of the Ligyes beyond the Eridanus, is said to 

 have ruled the land of the Kelts. People 

 relate concerning him that through the will 

 of Apollo he was changed after his death into 

 a swan. I am willing to believe that a man 

 who loved music may have ruled over the 

 Ligyes, but that a human being was turned 

 into a bird is a thing impossible for me to 

 believe." 



Then there was Kuknos, a son of Mars 

 or Picus, whom Herakles killed in his father's 

 presence. When attacked by Mars, the demi- 

 god put the god to flight by a spear-thrust 

 through the thigh. And in fact the swan flies 

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