Legend has it that on the slopes of Mount Cirfis, close
to the city of Delphi, an enormous water dragon called
Sybaris came to live. This monster terrorized the local
population, for every month she demanded a young,
beautiful and innocent adolescent boy, who had not yet
tasted the sweetness of love, and devoured him.
Apollo's priests selected the young men to be offered to
the dragon, and every month they drew lots to see whose
turn it was to be sacrificed. It so happened that one
day fate chose the most beautiful young man of that
place, the young Alcyoneus, as Sybaris's victim. In
addition to his valor and intelligence, Alcyoneus
possessed a beauty which, like Ganymede's, entitled him
to serve as cup-bearer to the gods.
When the beautiful younger man, crowned with
roses and looking a young Apollo, was led amid
wailing and chanting to the place of sacrifice,
the procession encountered Eurybatus, a brave
young warrior. On seeing the beautiful Alcyoneus
dressed in a white tunic, the soldier fell madly
in love with the young man. He immediately
detained the procession and asked:
Eurybatus killing the Dragon with his
sword'Where did you find this boy and where are
you taking him?' 'Brave warrior, his destiny is
tragic and his future is death,' they replied, 'for
he is the victim chosen by Fate to be sacrificed
to Sybaris.' Eurybatus turned pale with horror
on discovering the boy's destiny and, following
the impulse of his heart, asked them to free
Alcyoneus and sacrifice him in his place, for
his existence would be meaningless if the young
man were to die.
'Sacrifice me, for I have lived many years. This
young boy has never tasted life. Let him enjoy
the sun and the love which he deserves, for such
a beautiful creature should be a favorite of
Eros and Aphrodite, and not of dark Hades.' The
priests did not grant his petition, for they
feared that the warrior, who was not as young as
the handsome youth, would incur the dragon's
wrath against them. But they did allow him to
join th procession.
On reaching the place designated by Sybaris for the
sacrifice, they all withdrew. Alcyoneus already felt in
his heart a profound love for the brave warrior and
asked him to take shelter with the others, but the
warrior was not prepared to abandon the person who had
already become his reason for living. The terrible
female dragon came out of the cave thinking she would
find a frightened and defenseless youth, but she met
Eurybatus, who, inspired by the love he saw reflected in
the eyes of his young companion, launched a surprise
attack on the beast and killed her. The dragon was never
heard of again and a spring appeared on that spot. Many
years later, Eurybatus founded a city in Italy, which he
called Sybaris in memory of this feat
