Cyrene (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Cyrene (or Kyrene) ("sovereign queen") was the daughter of Creusa and Hypseus, King of the Lapiths. When a lion attacked her father's sheep, Cyrene wrestled with the lion. Apollo happened along and immediately fell in love with her and kidnapped her. He took her to North Africa and founded the city of Cyrene in her name. The region, Cyrenaica, is also named for her. Together, she and Apollo had one son: Aristaeus.

With Ares, she was the mother of Diomedes.