Cynosure

Cynosure (Gr. kynosoura, literally, 'the tail of the dog'), the Greek name for the constellation of the Little Bear, which contains the pole star, by which the Phœnician mariners steered their course, while the Greeks steered by the Great Bear. The name is metaphorically applied to anything that attracts attention, or to which all eyes are turned. Its use, with this meaning in reference to a lady, in Milton's classic poems L'Allegro and Comus, will be remembered. In the Greek mythology, Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, was changed into the Greater Bear (called also Helice), and her son, Arcas, into the Lesser (called also Cynosoura).—The Dog's-tail Grass is called Cynosurus.