Aristaeus was the mythological culture hero credited with the discovery of many rural useful arts and handicrafts, including bee-keeping; he was the son of the huntress Cyrene and Apollo.

Cyrene (Latin) or Kyrene, pronounced variously as sy-REE-nee or ky-REE-nee, was a figure in Greek mythology considered the etymon of the Greek colony of Cyrene in eastern Libya in North Africa. She was said to have been a Thessalian princess who became the queen of Cyrene, founded and named in her honor by Apollo. The story is entirely apocryphal, the city having been founded by settlers from Thera.