Cynosure

Cynosure (pronounced sahy-nuh-shoor or sin-uh-shoor)

(1) Something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance; a focal point, that which draws the eye; a person who is the centre of attention.

(2) That which serves to guide or direct; a guiding star; a guiding principle in life.

(3) Ursa Minor or Polaris, the North Star, used as a guide by navigators (usually capitalized).

(4) As Cynosura, a nymph in Greek mythology

1590–1600: From the sixteenth century French cynosure (Ursa Minor; Polaris), from the Latin Cynosūra (Ursa Minor), from the Ancient Greek Κυνόσουρα (Kunósoura) (the constellation Ursa Minor (Little Dipper and literally “dog’s tail”)), the construct being κυνός (kunós) (dog's) + οὐρά (ourá) (tail).  The Greek kunós (genitive kynos) was from the primitive Indo-European root kwon- (dog).  Cynosure was the historic name of the constellation now known as Ursa Minor, containing what is now the “North Star” (although this concept was unknown in Antiquity), the focus of pre-modern navigation (sitting at the tip of the tail); there are however extant ancient texts which mention the entire constellation being used to indicated the direction of the celestial north pole.  Such was the veneration for classical world that the circulated explanation of the origin of Cynosura being “dog's tail” that it was until recently universally accepted but more recent scholarship noted it does not connect to the theme of the constellation, and no other constellation fitting the description exists, thus the suspicion of some etymologists that the derivation from the word for dog is false.  Cynosura is the alternative name for the constellation Ursa Minor or its brightest star, Polaris.  Cynosure is a noun and cynosural is an adjective; the noun plural is cynosures.

Lindsay Lohan in cynosure dress, 2014.

In Greek mythology, Cynosura was a nymph (an Oread) who lived on Mount Ida on the Mediterranean island of Crete and nursed a young Zeus during his early years when he hid from his father Cronus; in gratitude, Zeus immortalized her among the stars.  According to the Roman Poet Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BC–17 AD) (in part III of Fasti (The Book of Days) ) Cynosura was a companion of the nymph Helice and together they took the infant Zeus into Mount Ida’s Dictaean cave, caring for him while the Curetes (also as Kuretes & Kouretes, the divine beings living in the cave and associated with the worship of the goddess Rhea) distracted his father Cronus so he would not devour his son.  All went well until Cronus arrived in Crete at which point Zeus transformed the nymphs into bears and made himself appear as a dragon.  Thus disguised, the three escaped the fury of Cronos.  Later, after Zeus had become the supreme god, he made the two nymphs immortal, Cynosura becoming Ursa Minor while Helice, the beloved of Poseidon, was transformed into Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear or the Big Dipper.  However, in some of the tales in Greek mythology the origin of the two constellations are told in the stories of Callisto, a follower of Artemis, and her son Arcas.  In Antiquity (Greek or Roman), there were often “alternative facts”.