Celaeno

In Greek mythology, Celaeno (/sᵻˈliːnoʊ/; Ancient Greek: Κελαινώ Kelaino, lit. 'the dark one', also Celeno or Kelaino, sometimes [misspelled] Calaeno) referred to several different figures.

• Celaeno, one of the Harpies,^[1] whom Aeneas encountered at Strophades. She gave him prophecies of his coming journeys.^[2]
• Celaeno, one of the Pleiades. She was said to be mother of Lycus and Nycteus by Poseidon;^[3] of Eurypylus (or Eurytus), King of Cyrene, and Lycaon, also by Poseidon;^[4] and of Lycus and Chimaereus by Prometheus.^[5]
• Celaeno, one of the Danaids, the daughters of Danaus. Her mother was Crino. She married and killed Hyperbius, son of Aegyptus and Hephaestine.^[6] She was also believed to have had a son Celaenus by Poseidon.^[7]
• Celaeno, an Amazon. She was killed by Heracles whilst he was undertaking the ninth labour.^[8]
• Celaeno, daughter of Hyamus and granddaughter of Lycorus. She was the mother of Delphus by Apollo.^[9]

Modern references

The following modern uses derive from the Ancient Greek mythical name:

• Celaeno, a star in the Pleiades open cluster of stars.
• USS Celeno (AK-76), a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship
• Ship Celaeno builder A. HALL & Co Aberdeen. Rig: SHIP. Construction: Wood. Yard Number: 233. Completed in June 1863. Weighed 702 tons and measured 173.0 feet x 30.2 feet x 18.7 feet. The Celaeno made eleven trips to New Zealand.

In literature

• The star Celaeno features as a location in the Cthulhu Mythos stories of August Derleth. See Cthulhu Mythos celestial bodies and Extraterrestrial places in the Cthulhu Mythos
• The harpy Celaeno appears as a captive of a traveling witch's Midnight Carnival, in the Peter S. Beagle classic fantasy novel The Last Unicorn and the 1982 film based on the book.
• Celaeno is the name of the chief Goddess in the Celaeno Series by Jane Fletcher.
• Celaeno is also the name of Skylord Lysander's flying ship in the Shadow Of Israphel series by the Yogscast. It crashed on the first SoI episode.

References

1. Hyginus, Fabulae, Preface & 14
2. Virgil, Aeneid, 3. 209-211, with the commentary by Servius
3. Bibliotheca 3. 10. 1
4. Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 4. 1561
5. Tzetzes on Lycophron, 132
6. Bibliotheca 2.1.5.
7. Strabo, Geography 12. 8. 18
8. Diodorus Siculus. Library of History, 4.16.3.
9. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10. 6. 3