Note 151 — CANAAN, CNAAN,

Such are the witty strictures of Lucian upon the story of Phaëthon and Cycnus, as described by the poets. Whatever may have been the grounds upon which this fiction is founded, they were certainly unknown to the Greeks; who have misinterpreted what little came to their hands, and from such misconstruction devised these fables. The story, as we have it, is not uniformly told. Some, like Lucian, speak of swans in the plural; and suppose them to have been the ministers, and attendants of Apollo, who assisted at his concerts. Others mention one person only, called Cycnus; who was the reputed brother of Phaëthon, and at his death was transformed to the bird of that name. The fable is the same whichever way it may be related, and the purport of it is likewise the same. There is one mistake in the story, which I must set right before I proceed; as it may be of some consequence in the process of my inquiry. Phaëthon is represented by many of the poets as the offspring of the Sun, or Apollo: [151]Sole satus Phaëthon. But this was a mistake, and to be found chiefly among the Roman poets. Phaëthon was the Sun. It was a title of Apollo; and was given to him as the God of light. This is manifest from the testimony of the more early Greek poets, and particularly from Homer, who uses it in this acceptation.