The Swan

Now we must continue. I am glad you have met the Star King. He is a critical part of a constellation’s life. There is so much more to see though! The Swan is a rambunctious constellation. It is very difficult to catch the Swan in the sky. He only stays for a moment before he is off again. The Swan does have a real name, Lincoln. He was once a God. He was a great God and had a deep love for chariot racing. A Goddess named Svana was his racing companion and his best friend.

Look across the galaxy now…. he is just to the right…. you can see his large wings beating!

Anyways, one day Lincoln thought of a new route to race Svana on. The plan was to cut through the Milky Way to the other side. To do this the two would have to go around several asteroid belts and clusters of interstellar material. He told his friend about the challenges that the route contained, and she was enthusiastic to begin the race.

The two quickly washed their glistening horses and wiped down their gold-plated chariots. Within the minute the two had set up next to each other looking out into space. They went on the count of three and were already out of sight by the time you could blink your eye.

By the time the two got to the Solar System they were still neck and neck. They had grown increasingly anxious to win. To save time, they went through the asteroid belt instead of going around it. This was their biggest mistake….

It was difficult to dodge the asteroids ahead, much less the ones coming from the sides. Svana’s chariot was hit by an asteroid and she was flung all the way to Earth. She fell into the Eridanus Sea and became trapped under the crashing waves of Poseidon. Lincoln raced down to Earth and immediately dived in to save Svana, but he was no match for Poseidon. He could not get past the water’s treacherous surface.

He called to the Star King. He asked the Star King to turn him into a fish, so he could swim to her. The Star King made him a fish, but Lincoln was caught by a fisherman and returned to the Gods.

He then asked the Star King to make him into a shark. He knew that no fisherman would want to catch a deadly shark. The Star King made him a shark, but when his friend saw him she swam away in fear.

He then asked the Star King to make him a swan. He thought that a swan could dive deep past the surface and would draw Svana close enough to save her. The Star King told him that he had asked for too much.

He begged to be a swan. The Star King told him that once he was a swan he could no longer be anything else. He would live eternity as a swan on Earth and would lose his immortality. He agreed, and the Star King made him a swan.

As a swan, Lincoln dived past the water’s treacherous surface, swam past the fisherman, and got close enough to Svana to guide her to the surface. Svana was grateful and when she was told of Lincoln’s heroic acts, she asked the Star King to join her friend as a swan.

When Lincoln died, the Star King placed him in the stars as a Swan for his act of friendship. Svana still spends much of her time as a swan on Earth, but she joins us in sky from June till October. This is the time when you can see the Swan in the sky from the northern hemisphere.

Author's Note:

Hi guys! Thanks for reading my story. The purpose of this story was to create a dynamic retelling of a Greek story about Cygnus and Phaeton. If you want to read the original story click here!. Let me know if there is anything you want me to expand on or explain.

Original Story: This story was about two friends who raced their chariots and crashed on Earth. Phaeton hit a river and was knocked unconscious. Cygnus could not swim so he asked Zeus (God of the Sky) to make him into a swan. He had to lose his immortality and live the rest of his life as a swan. Zeus created the swan constellation once he died in honor of his friendship.

Names: There are some differences between the two stories, one of which is the names. So, in my story I chose Lincoln and Svana as the two friends. Lincoln is actually the saint of swans. If you want more information on the name, click here. Svana means swan in Old Norse. If you want more information on swan inspired names, click here.

The Eridanus Sea: I selected the Eridanus Sea because the Eridanus river is a river that is mentioned in Greek mythology. I made it a sea instead, so I could add more dynamics on what animal Lincoln wanted to turn into. The Eridanus river is the river of Hades (God of the underworld) and a real constellation. You may be wondering if the river is real, and the answer is yes! There is a river near Athens, Greece that was rediscovered through excavations. Here is more information on the Eridanus river