the phrase swan song comes from ancient greece.
the phrase swan song comes from ancient greece.
where does the phrase swan song come from?
ancient greece
swan song









































the swan song (ancient greek: κύκνειον ᾆσμα; latin: "carmen cygni") is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. the phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death, having been silent (or alternatively, not so musical) during most of their lifetime. this belief, whose basis in actuality is long-debated, had become proverbial in ancient greece by the 3rd century bc and was reiterated many times in later western poetry and art.









































section::::origin and description.
swan song
swans feature strongly in mythology. in greek mythology, the story of leda and the swan recounts that helen of troy was conceived in a union of zeus disguised as a swan and leda, queen of sparta. other references in classical literature include the belief that upon death the otherwise-silent mute swan would sing beautifully—hence the phrase swan song; as well as juvenal's sarcastic reference to a good woman being a "rare bird, as rare on earth as a black swan", from which we get the latin phrase "", rare bird. the mute swan is also one of the sacred birds of apollo, whose associations stem both from the nature of the bird as a symbol of light as well as the notion of a "swan song". the god is often depicted riding a chariot pulled by or composed of swans in his ascension from delos.
swan