Alcyone and Ceyx transformed into Halycons (cropped)

In Greek mythology, Alcyone or Halcyone (; grc, Ἀλκυόνη, Alkyónē derived from grc, ἀλκυών, alkyṓn, kingfisher, label=none) and Ceyx (; grc, Κήϋξ, Kḗÿx) were a wife and husband who incurred the wrath of the god Zeus.

Mythology

Alcyone was a Thessalian princess, the daughter of King Aeolus of Aeolia, either by Enarete or Aegiale. She was the sister of Salmoneus, Athamas, Sisyphus, Cretheus, Perieres, Deioneus, Magnes, Calyce, Canace, Pisidice and

Perimede ''Perimede'' is a genus of moths in the family Cosmopterigidae The Cosmopterigidae are a family of insects (cosmet moths) in the order Lepidoptera. These are small moths with narrow wings whose tiny larvae feed internally on the leaves, seed ...

. Later on, Alcyone became the queen of Trachis after marrying King Ceyx. The latter was the son of Eosphorus (often translated as Lucifer). The couple were very happy together in Trachis. According to Pseudo-Apollodorus's account, this couple often sacrilegiously called each other " Zeus" and "

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

". This angered Zeus, so while Ceyx was at sea (in order to consult an oracle, according to Ovid), he killed Ceyx with a thunderbolt. Soon after, Morpheus, the god of dreams, disguised as Ceyx, appeared to Alcyone to tell her of her husband's fate. In her grief she threw herself into the sea. Out of compassion, the gods changed them both into "halcyon birds" ( common kingfishers), named after her. Ovid and Hyginus Hyginus, ''Fabulae'
65
/ref> both also recount the metamorphosis of the pair in and after Ceyx's loss in a terrible storm, though they both omit Ceyx and Alcyone calling each other "Zeus" and "Hera" (and Zeus's resulting anger) as a reason for it. On the contrary, it is mentioned that while still unaware of Ceyx's death in the shipwreck, Alcyone continued to pray at the altar of Hera for his safe return.Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). Ovid also adds the detail of her seeing his body washed ashore before her attempted suicide. Virgil in the '' Georgics'' also alludes to the myth - again without reference to Zeus's anger.

Halcyon days

Ovid and Hyginus both also make the metamorphosis the origin of the etymology for " halcyon days", the seven days in winter when storms never occur. They state that these were originally the 14 days each year (seven days on either side of the shortest day of the year) during which Alcyone (as a kingfisher) laid her eggs and made her nest on the beach and during which her father Aeolus, god of the winds, restrained the winds and calmed the waves so she could do so in safety. Aeolus controls the wind and the bird couple can nurture their young nestlings. The phrase has since come to refer to any peaceful time. Its proper meaning, however, is that of a lucky break, or a bright interval set in the midst of adversity; just as the days of calm and mild weather are set in the height of winter for the sake of the kingfishers' egglaying according to the myth. Kingfishers however do not live by the sea, so Ovid's tale is not based on any actual observations of the species and in fact refers to a mythical bird only later identified with the kingfisher.

Interpretation

The English poet

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...

, in his '' The Greek Myths'', explained the origin of Alcyone's myth as follows: Although one of the mythological Pleiades was indeed called

Alcyone In Greek mythology, Alcyone or Halcyone (; grc, Ἀλκυόνη, Alkyónē derived from grc, ἀλκυών, alkyṓn, kingfisher, label=none) and Ceyx (; grc, Κήϋξ, Kḗÿx) were a wife and husband who incurred the wrath of the god Zeus ...

, Graves does not cite any sources to support his claim that she was their leader - or even to support the idea that they had a leader. This claim is also made in Graves's '' The White Goddess'', but again no quotations from myths or scholiasts are given to support it.

Legacy

* Various kinds of kingfishers are named after the couple, in reference to the metamorphosis myth: ** The genus '' Ceyx'' (within the river kingfishers family) is named after him ** The kingfisher family Halcyonidae ( tree kingfishers) is named after Alcyone, as is the genus '' Halcyon''. ** The

belted kingfisher The belted kingfisher (''Megaceryle alcyon'') is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, native to North America. All kingfishers were formerly placed in one family, Alcedinidae, but recent research suggests that this should be divided into three ...

's Latin species name (''Megaceryle alcyon'') also references her name. * Their story features in '' The Book of the Duchess''. * Their story is the basis for the opera ''

'' by the French composer Marin Marais and the cantata ''

'' by

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

* A collection of Canada's celebrated nature poet,

Archibald Lampman Archibald Lampman (17 November 1861 – 10 February 1899) was a Canadian poet. "He has been described as 'the Canadian Keats;' and he is perhaps the most outstanding exponent of the Canadian school of nature poets." ''The Canadian Encyclope ...

, ''Alcyone'', his final set of poetry published posthumously in 1899, highlights both Lampman's apocalyptic and utopian visions of the future. *

TS Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

draws from this myth in '' The Dry Salvages'': "And the ragged rock in the restless waters,/Waves wash over it, fogs conceal it;/On a halcyon day it is merely a monument,/In navigable weather it is always a seamark/To lay a course by: but in the sombre season/Or the sudden fury, is what it always was." * Rick Riordan's '' The Demigod Files'' had a part called "The Diary of Luke Castellan" which mentions a similar character named Halcyon Green who is the son of Apollo and is currently under "house arrest" for revealing to a woman her fate.

Gallery

File:Virgil Solis - Alcyone Juno.jpg, ''Alcyone praying Juno'', engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's Metamorphoses Book XI, 573-582 File:Virgil Solis - Ceyx Tempest.jpg, ''Ceyx in the tempest'', engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's Metamorphoses Book XI, 410-572 File:Virgil Solis - Ceyx-Morpheus Alcyone.jpg, ''Ceyx/ Morpheus appears to Alcyone'', engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's Metamorphoses Book XI, 650–749. File:Johann Wilhelm Baur - Morpheus in the house of Ceyx, before Alcyone.jpg, ''Ceyx/ Morpheus appears to Alcyone'', engraving (or etching more likely) by Bauer for Ovid's Metamorphoses Book XI, 633–676. File:Ceyx prenant conge d'alcyone.jpg, ''Ceyx prenant congé d'Alcyone'' (15th century) File:Alcyone ceyx.jpg, Alcyone and Ceyx marble bas relief, originally at Parlington Hall, Aberford, removed to Lotherton Hall sometime after 1905.

Notes

References

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

, ''Catalogue of Women'' from ''Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica'' translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914
Online version at theoi.com
* Hyginus, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Publius Vergilius Maro, ''Bucolics'', ''Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

External links

* Images of Ceyx and Alcyone in th
Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
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