Alcyone (daughter Of Sciron)

In Greek mythology, Alcyone ( grc, Ἀλκυόνη, Αlkuónē, kingfisher) is a minor figure from Attica who was transformed into the bird bearing her name after she was murdered by her own father Sciron. Her tale is a variation on the more known myth of the origins of the kingfisher, starring Alcyone and Ceyx.

Etymology

Alkyóne comes from alkyón (), which refers to a sea-bird with a mournful song or to a kingfisher bird in particular. The meaning(s) of the words is uncertain because ''alkyón'' is considered to be of pre- Greek, non- Indo-european origin. However, folk etymology related them to the ''háls'' (, "brine, sea, salt") and ''kyéo'' (, "I conceive"). Alkyóne originally is written with a smooth breathing mark, but this false origin beginning with a rough breathing mark (transliterated as the letter H) led to the common misspellings ''halkyón'' () and ''Halkyóne'' (), and thus the name of one of the kingfisher bird genus' in English Halcyon. It is also speculated that Alkyóne is derived from ''alké'' (, "prowess, battle, guard") and ''onéo'' (, from , ''onínemi'', "to help, to please").

Mythology

According to Pseudo-Probus's commentary on Virgil, Alcyone was the daughter of an Attic man named Sciron, the son of Polypemon. Her father, who wished to see his daughter wed at last, ordered her to look for a husband, and Alcyone proceeded to sleep with many men. When he found out about his daughter's promiscuity, Sciron was enraged and cast Alcyone into the sea to drown, whereupon she was transformed into a kingfisher, an aquatic bird beloved by the sea-goddess Thetis.Pseudo-Probus, ''On Virgil's Georgics'
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Pseudo-Probus says that this version is Theodorus's, from a lost ''Metamorphoses'' work of his; he adds that Ovid in his own '' Metamorphoses'' is going by Nicander's version (which has also been lost). In the ''Metamorphoses'', Ovid writes that Alcyone and Ceyx were a beloved couple. Ceyx died at sea during a terrible seastorm, and when Alcyone learnt of his demise, she threw herself off a cliff. The goddess of marriage Hera, pitying the unfortunate couple, transformed them both into kingfishers, a story also supported by Virgil, Apollodorus, and Hyginus. Hyginus, ''Fabulae'
65
/ref> Pseudo-Probus, Ovid and Hyginus all make the metamorphosis the origin of the etymology for " halcyon days", the seven days in winter when storms never occur so the birds can lay their eggs.

Despite Ovid going by a different version than the one pseudo-Probus had in mind, he evidently knew (and referenced) both of them, albeit the other (concerning the daughter of Sciron) in a very subtle and obscure way in the lines:

It is possible that the original myth was a simpler version closer to Nicander's one, where a woman named Alcyone wept for her unnamed husband; Ceyx was probably added later due to him being an important figure in poetry, and having a wife named Alcyone (as evidenced from the Hesiodic poem ''The Wedding of Ceyx'').

See also

* Titus Andronicus
* Aerope
* Io
* Nyctaea

References

Bibliography

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* Hyginus, Gaius Julius
''The Myths of Hyginus''
Edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
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Online version at Perseus.tufts project.
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* Valerius Probus, ''In Vergillii Bucolica et Georgica Commentarius'', 1848
Online version on Google books.
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External links

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Metamorphoses characters
Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology
Mythological people from Attica
Women in Greek mythology