Swan (Latin cygnus or olor) A BIRD of great symbolic significance for the ancient world (despite its rarity in Mediterranean regions); its limber neck and WHITE plumage made it a symbol of noble purity.
This is why Zeus chose to approach the unsuspecting Leda in this guise. It is interesting that Homer (in Hymn 21) praises the singing swan, which (unlike the mute swan) lives only in more northern latitudes. This swan is associated with Apollo, who also was said to be revered especially by the northern mythic race of Hyperboreans. The swan was present at the god's birth, carried him across the sky, and derived from him its gift of prophecy.
At times the swan is referred to as the enemy or opponent of the EAGLE or (like the eagle) of the SNAKE, each of which the swan frequently defeats.
The proverbial "swan song" (the significant final words or performance of a great person) goes back to the prophetic talent of the swan, already mentioned by Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.): it supposedly foresees its impending death and emits extraordinary cries bemoaning its own passing.
In fact, the singing swan of Northern Europe (cygnus musicus) can produce a powerful trumpet-like note in the upper register and a weaker one in the lower, even shortly before it is paralyzed by severe cold. If several of these swans cry at once, they do give the impression of song.
According to Germanic superstition, VIRGINS could be transformed into prophetic swan maidens (as in the Nibelungenlied)j similar myths (in which
the maidens can doff their plumage) are found in a variety of cultural contexts. In Christian thought the cygnus musicus came to symbolize the Savior crying out from the Cross in extremis. The association of the bird with song (and hence lyrical beauty) led Ben Jonson to call Shakespeare "the sweet
swan of Avon."
The swan often symbolizes feminine grace; Aphrodite and Artemis (Latin DIANA) are often portrayed as accompanied by swans. It is in part because of the association of swans with physical grace that T chaikovsky's Swan
Lake is for many the quintessential classical ballet.
In the imagery of ALCHEMY the swan symbolizes the element mercury (see SULFUR AND MERCURY) in its volatility.
The swan is important in HERALDRY as well, frequently appearing in coats of arms (e.g., those of Boulogne-sur-Mer and the Saxon city of Zwickau, whose Latin name was Cygnea). A chivalric Order of the Swan was founded in 1440, then renewed in 1843 by the German king Friedrich Wilhelm II as a charitable secular order, but never came into operation.
A strange, negative symbolic interpretation of the swan surfaces in medieval bestiaries. In contrast to its snow-white plumage, it is written, the bird has "utterly BLACK flesh": "Thus it is a symbol of the hypocrite, whose black sinful flesh is clothed by white garments. When the bird's white plumage is stripped away, its black flesh is roasted in the fire. So, too, will the hypocrite, once dead, be stripped of worldly splendor and descend into the fires of hell" [Unterkircher). Bockler, on the other hand, writes that swans do battle even with eagles if attacked. They "are the royalty among water fowl; the meaning that they carry is of the whiteness of peace" (1688). This poetic formulation is reminiscent of the swan knight, Lohengrin
fortress : Only in the Occident is a citadel viewed symbolically ("A mighty fortress is our God," Luther}. The metaphor already appears in the Old Testament: the Lord is"my goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer" [Psalm 144:2]. If we consider the constant danger of wars and invasions in the Holy Land, we can understand the desire for a safe refuge and the recourse to faith in God . Christian faith as well should constitute a walled fortress against the DEVIL'S crafty onslaughts. At times the "heavenly JERUSALEM" is portrayed as the model of a fortress that already protects the faithful.
The kingdom of hell is portrayed antithetically with a satanic fortress that glows with the FIRES within and without.
Himalayan monasteries, such as the famous Potala in Lhasa (Tibet), are true religious fortresses, corresponding in reality to the European notion of the godly citadel. Moreover, in the time of the Turkish invasions,
many churches in the southeastern part of Central Europe were enclosed by walls, further literal analogues of the Psalmist's vision.
In HERALDRY the "fortress" often appears on coats of arms in highly simplified form, viewed from the front, with towers and gate, as an indication in many cases pf a city's fortifications
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