where does the phrase swan song come from
ancient Greece
title: Swan song text: 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 ("Cygnus" spp.) 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. In Greek mythology, the swan was a bird consecrated title: Swanee (song) text: Swanee (song) "Swanee" is an American popular song written in 1919 by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Irving Caesar. It is most often associated with singer Al Jolson. The song was written for a New York City revue called "Demi-Tasse", which opened in October 1919 in the Capitol Theater. Caesar and Gershwin, who was then aged 20, claimed to have written the song in about ten minutes riding on a bus in Manhattan, finishing it at Gershwin's apartment. It was written partly as a parody of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home". It was originally used as a big production title: Swan Sequence text: Swan Sequence The Swan Sequence (incipit: "Clangam, filii" "I shall cry out, my sons") is an anonymous Carolingian–Aquitainian Latin sequence first recorded around 850. Its melody was popular for some two centuries after its composition. In the sequence the swan has left the flowery land and is trapped on the ocean amidst terrible waves, unable to fly away. She longs for fish, but is unable to catch them; she looks up longingly at Orion. She prays for light to replace her darkness and, when the dawn finally comes, rises to the stars and flies to land. Then all the birds title: Swan song text: is entitled Swans (Life After Death). By extension, "swan song" has become an idiom referring to a final theatrical or dramatic appearance, or any final work or accomplishment. For example, an athlete that wins a championship or breaks records in their final season are sometimes said to have had a "swan song season." Examples: 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 ("Cygnus" spp.) sing a beautiful song just before title: Swan text: if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight. The English word 'swan', akin to the German "Schwan", Dutch "zwaan" and Swedish "svan", is derived from Indo-European root "*swen" (to sound, to sing). Young swans are known as "swanlings" or as "cygnets"; the latter derives via Old French "cigne" or "cisne" (diminutive suffix -"et" "little") from the Latin word "", a variant form of "cycnus" "swan", itself from the Greek "kýknos", a word of the same meaning. An adult male is a "cob", from Middle