According to
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Cyllene and
Pelasgus had a son named
Lycaon, a king of the Arcadians.[4] Otherwise, the latter's mother was either the
OceanidMeliboea[5] or
Deianira, daughter of another
Lycaon.[6] According to others she was Lycaon's wife instead,[1] but in others versions of the myth, his wife was called
Nonacris.[7]
In the Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes, Hermes stayed in cave with his mother
Maia, but in
Sophocles's lost
satyr playIchneutae ("trackers") it was Cyllene who nurtured the infant god.[8] The titular
satyrs, who are looking for
Apollo's missing cattle (that Hermes stole) on the orders of the god, confront Cyllene who gives an account of
Zeus and Maia's amorous relationship,[9] how he deceived his wife Queen
Hera and how quickly the infant is growing, scaring even her.[10] As the sound of the lyre echoes, the satyrs marvel at the sound, and Cyllene explains to them the construction of the instrument, leaving them baffled and incredulous.[11] Cyllene, when describing the lyre Hermes invented, offers a humorous riddle, saying that the son of Zeus has granted a new voice to a body that is dead, before revealing she is talking about a dead tortoise.[12] The satyrs next accuse Hermes of stealing Apollo's sacred cattle; Cyllene replies that it is unthinkable to accuse a son of Zeus himself of such a petty crime, and defends Hermes by pointing out there is no tendency for theft in either the paternal or maternal side of Hermes' family.[13][a] The papyrus on which the fragmentary play is preserved breaks off as Apollo arrives and what happens next is not clear.
The ancient Greeks considered Mount Cyllene, the mountain this nymph personified, to be the highest mountain range in the
Peloponnese peninsula, and was sacred to Hermes under the localised epithet Cyllenius.[14]