Chapter 1
“And by Hypseus was reared this maid, Cyrene of the lovely arms. But she loved not the pacing tread this way and that beside the loom, nor the delights of merry feasts with her companions in the household. But the bronze-tipped javelin and the sword called her to combat and slay the wild beasts of the field; and in truth many a day she gave of peaceful quiet to her father’s cattle”
-Pindar, Pythian Ode
Cyrene was born to the naiad Chlidanope and the king of the Lapiths, Hypseus. She was a companion of Artemis, although not in Artemis’s group of hunters, who had given her two hounds. Cyrene was also called, “the girl lionkiller,” a “deer-chasing second Artemis,” and “a champion of the leafy forest with lion-slaying hands” by the Greek poet Nonnus.
Apollo first saw her she was defending her fathers’ sheep from lions and was smitten. He went to Chiron to see if he could make her his bride, and once he had gotten approval, he took Cyrene away to North Africa where she became queen of the land. She had two sons with Apollo, Aristaeus, the god of beekeeping, and Idmon, the Agrnount seer. After they were both born, Apollo transformed her into a nymph so she would live a long life and hunt as much as she pleases. He founded both the city of Cyrene and the region Cyrenacia in honor of his love.
Later on, Apollo took her to Libya, where a monstrous lion terrorized the citizens. She then killed the beast on the Myrtoussa (the Hill of Myrtles) and became the Queen of Libya.
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