.jpg)
InGreek mythology,Alcyone (or dubiouslyHalcyone)[1] (/ælˈsaɪəˌni,hælˈsaɪəˌni/;Ancient Greek:Ἀλκυόνη,romanized: Alkyónē) andCeyx (/ˈsiːɪks/;Κήϋξ,Kḗÿx) were a wife and husband who incurred the wrath of the godZeus for their romantichubris.
Alkyóne comes from alkyón (ἀλκυών), which refers to a sea-bird with a mournful song[2] or to akingfisher bird in particular.[3] The meaning(s) of the words is uncertain becausealkyón is considered to be of pre-Greek, non-Indo-European origin.[4] However,folk etymology related them to theháls (ἅλς, "brine, sea, salt") andkyéo (κυέω, "I conceive"). Alkyóne originally is written with asmooth breathing mark, but this false origin beginning with arough breathing mark (transliterated as the letter H) led to the common misspellingshalkyón (ἁλκυών) andHalkyóne (Ἁλκυόνη),[5] and thus the name of one of the kingfisher birdgenus' in EnglishHalcyon. It is also speculated that Alkyóne is derived fromalké (ἀλκή, "prowess, battle, guard") andonéo (ὀνέω, fromὀνίνεμι,onínemi,[6] "to help, to please").[7]
Kéyx as referring to a sea-bird appears to be related tokaúax (καύαξ),[8] which is a ravenous sea-bird (λάρος,láros). These suggest that Kéyx may have been turned into either asea mew or atern.[9]
.jpg)
Alcyone was aThessalian princess, the daughter of KingAeolus of Aeolia, either byEnarete[10] orAegiale.[11] She was the sister ofSalmoneus,Athamas,Sisyphus,Cretheus,Perieres,Deioneus,Magnes,Calyce,Canace,Pisidice andPerimede.
Later on, Alcyone became the queen ofTrachis after marrying KingCeyx. The latter was the son ofEosphorus (often translated asLucifer).[12] The couple were very happy together in Trachis.
According toPseudo-Apollodorus's account, this couple oftensacrilegiously called each other "Zeus" and "Hera".[13] This angered Zeus, so while Ceyx was at sea (in order to consult an oracle, according toOvid), 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. Apollodorus says that Ceyx was turned into agannet, and not a kingfisher.
Ovid[14] and Hyginus[11] 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.[15] Ovid also adds the detail of her seeing his body washed ashore before her attempted suicide.Pseudo-Probus, a scholiast on Virgil'sGeorgics, notes that Ovid followedNicander's version of the tale, instead of Theodorus's starring anotherAlcyone.[16]
Virgil in theGeorgics also alludes to the myth—again without reference to Zeus's anger.[17]
It is possible that the earlier myth was a simpler version of the one by Nicander, where a woman named Alcyone mourned her unnamed husband; Ceyx was probably added later due to him being an important figure in mythology and poetry, and also having a wife whose name was Alcyone (as evidenced from theHesiodic poemWedding of Ceyx).[18]
Ovid and Hyginus both also make the metamorphosis the origin of the term "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 theshortest day of the year[19]) during which Alcyone (as akingfisher) made her nest on the beach and laid her eggs while her fatherAeolus, the god of the winds, helped her do so safely by restraining the winds and thus calming the waves.[15] 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.
The expressionἀλκῠονίδες ἡμέραι (alkuonídes hēmérai) first occurs inAristophanes' playThe Birds 1594, then again inAristotle,Philochorus, andLucian.[20] In Latin it occurs asalcyonides dies inPliny the Elder,alcyonei (-nĭī)diēs inColumella andVarro,alcyonia inHyginus, andalcedonia inPlautus andFrontinus.[21]
It was fabled, that during the seven days before, and as many after, the shortest day of the year, while the bird ἀλκυών, was breeding, there always prevailed calms at sea.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Alcyone".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
.jpg)
.jpg)
