Canopus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Canopus (or Canobus) was the pilot of the ship of King Menelaus of Sparta during the Trojan War. He is described as a young handsome man, who was loved by Theonoe, the Egyptian prophetess, but never answered her feelings. According to legend, while visiting the coasts of Egypt, he was bitten by a serpent and died. His master erected a monument to him at the mouth of the River Nile, around which the town of Canopus later developed.^[1][2]

Canopus, the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina took his name after him.

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