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.

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