Chapter Custance to Czar of C by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Cydippe , a lady courted by Acontius of Cea. Being unable to obtain her, Acontius wrote on an apple, “I swear by Diana that Acontius shall be my husband.” This apple was presented to the maiden, and being persuaded that she had written the words, though inadvertently, she consented to marry Acontius for “the oath’s sake.”

Cydippe by a letter was betrayed,
Writ on an apple to th’ unwary maid.
   —Ovid: Art of Love, I.

Cyllaros, the horse of Pollux according to Virgil (Georgic iii. 90); but of Castor according to Ovid (Metamorphoses xii. 403). It was coal-black, with white legs and tail.

Cyllenius, Mercury; so called from mount Cyllenê, in Arcadia, where he was born.

Cymbeline , mythical king of Britain for thirty-five years. He beg an to reign in the nineteenth year of Augustus Cæsar. His father was Tenantius, who refused to pay the tribute to the Romans exacted of Cassibelan after his defeat by Julius Cæsar. Cymbeline married twice. By his first wife he had a daughter named Imogen, who married Posthumus Leonatus. His second wife had a son named Cloten by a former husband.—Shakespeare: Cymbeline (1609).

Cymochles [Si-môk-leez], brother of Pyrochlês, son of Acratês, and husband of Acrasia the enchantress. He sets out against sir Guyon, but being ferried over Idle Lake, abandons himself to self-indulgence, and is slain by king Arthur (canto 8).—Spenser: Faërie Queene, ii. 5, etc. (1590).

Cymodoce . The mother of Marinel is so called in bk. iv. 12 of the Faërie Queene, but in bk. iii. 4 she is spoken of as Cymoent “daughter of Nereus” by an earth-born father, “the famous Dumarin.”

The Garden of Cymodoce, Sark. Swinburne, in 1881, published a poem bearing this title.

Cymoent. (See Cymodoce.)

Cymry, the Welsh.

The Welsh always called themselves “Cymry,” the literal meaning of which is “aborigines.” … It is the same word as “Cimbri.” … They call their language “Cymraeg,” i.e. “the primitive tongue.”—E. Williams.

Cynægiros, brother of the poet Æschylos. When the Persians, after the battle of Marathon, were pushing off from shore, Cynægiros seized one of their ships with his right hand; which being lopped off, he grasped it with his left hand; this being cut off, he seized it with his teeth, and lost his life.

Admiral Benbow, in an engagement with the French, near St. Martha, in 1701, had his legs and thighs shivered into splinters by chain-shot; but (supported on a wooden frame) he remained on deck till Du Casse sheered off.

Almeyda, the Portuguese governor of India, had his legs and thighs shattered in a similar way, and caused himself to be bound to the ship’s mast, that he might wave his sword to cheer on the combatants.

Jaafer, at the battle of Muta, carried the sacred banner of the prophet. One hand being lopped off, he held it with the other; this also being cut off, he held it with his two stumps, and when at last his head was cut off, he contrived to fall dead on the banner, which was thus detained till Abdallah had time to rescue it and hand it to Khaled.

Cynetha , eldest son of Cadwallon (king of North Wales). He was a n orphan, brought up by his uncle Owen. During his minority, Owen and Cynatha loved each other dearly; but when the orphan came of age and claimed his inheritance, his uncle burnt his eyes out by exposing them to plates of hot brass.