Editing Swan (section)

===Ancient Greece and Rome===
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 (mythology)|Leda]], Queen of [[Sparta]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Peter |title=Swan |date=2008 |publisher=Reaktion |location=London |isbn=978-1-86189-349-9 |page=70}}</ref>

Other references in classical literature include the belief that, upon death, the mute swan would sing beautifully—hence the phrase [[swan song]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the origin of the phrase 'Swan song'? |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/swan-song.html |publisher=phrases.org.uk |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205093619/http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/swan-song.html |archive-date=5 December 2016 }}</ref>

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]].

In the second century, the Roman poet [[Juvenal]] made a sarcastic reference to a good woman being a "rare bird, as rare on earth as a black swan" (black swans being completely unknown in the Northern Hemisphere until Dutch explorers reached Australia in the 1600s), from which comes the Latin phrase ''{{Wikt-lang|la|rara avis}}'' (rare bird).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Peter |title=Swan |date=2008 |publisher=Reaktion |location=London |isbn=978-1-86189-349-9 |page=27}}</ref>