View source for Alcyone and Ceyx

{{Short description|Ancient Greek mythological figures}}
{{Redirect|Alcyone}}
{{Redirect|Halcyone|other uses|Halcyon (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Ceyx}}
[[File:Alcyone and Ceyx transformed into Halycons (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Alcyone and Ceyx Transformed into Halcyons'']]

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Alcyone''' (or dubiously '''Halcyone''')<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Halcyone |url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Halcyone |encyclopedia=The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia |date=2022 |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |access-date=6 June 2024 |via=The Fee Dictionary}})</ref>  ({{IPAc-en|æ|l|ˈ|s|aɪ|ə|ˌ|n|i|,_|h|æ|l|ˈ|s|aɪ|ə|ˌ|n|i}}; {{langx|grc|Ἀλκυόνη|Alkyónē}}) and '''Ceyx''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|ɪ|k|s}}; {{langx|grc|Κήυξ|Kḗux}}) were a wife and husband who incurred the wrath of the god [[Zeus]] for their romantic [[hubris]].

==Etymology==
Alkyóne comes from {{transliteration|grc|alkyón}} ({{lang|grc|ἀλκυών}}), which refers to a sea-bird with a mournful song<ref>{{cite web |title=ἀλκυών |url=https://homeric_el_en.en-academic.com/615/%E1%BC%80%CE%BB%CE%BA%CF%85%CF%8E%CE%BD |website=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |access-date=29 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> or to a [[Common kingfisher|kingfisher]] bird in particular.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woodhouse |first1=Sidney Chawner |title=English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language |date=1910 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |location=London |isbn=9780710023247 |page=470 |url=https://artflsrv03.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/efts/sqldbs/WOODHOUSE/woodhouse.py?pagenumber=470&pageturn=1}}</ref> The meaning(s) of the words is uncertain because {{transliteration|grc|alkyón}} is considered to be of pre-[[Greek language|Greek]], non-[[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] origin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beekes |first1=Robert Stephen Paul |last2=van Beek |first2=Lucien |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |date=2010 |volume=1 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-17420-7 |page=71}}</ref> However, [[folk etymology]] related them to the {{transliteration|grc|háls}} ({{lang|grc|ἅλς}}, "brine, sea, salt") and {{transliteration|grc|kyéo}} ({{lang|grc|κυέω}}, "I conceive"). {{transliteration|grc|Alkyóne}} originally is written with a [[smooth breathing]] mark, but this false etymology beginning with a [[rough breathing]] mark (transliterated as the letter H) led to the common misspellings {{transliteration|grc|halkyón}} ({{lang|grc|ἁλκυών}}) and {{transliteration|grc|Halkyóne}} ({{lang|grc|Ἁλκυόνη}}),<ref>{{cite dictionary |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |dictionary=A Greek-English Lexicon |title=ἀλκυών |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=a)lkuw/n |publisher=Clarendon Press |via=Perseus Digital Library at Tufts University |access-date=29 July 2023}}</ref> and thus the name of one of the kingfisher bird [[genus]]' in English, [[Halcyon (genus)|''Halcyon'']]. It is also speculated that Alkyóne is derived from {{transliteration|grc|alké}} ({{lang|grc|ἀλκή}}, "prowess, battle, guard") and {{transliteration|grc|onéo}} ({{lang|grc|ὀνέω}}, from {{lang|grc|ὀνίνημι}}, {{transliteration|grc|onínēmi}},<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=ὀνέω |url=https://lsj.gr/index.php?title=%E1%BD%80%CE%BD%CE%AD%CF%89 |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |first3=Henry Stuart |last3=Jones <!--additional authors for this version:-->|first4=Spiros |last4=Doikas |first5=William |last5=Berg |dictionary=Ancient Greek Lexicon |access-date=29 July 2023}}</ref> "to help, to please").<ref>{{cite web |title=ALCYONE (Alkyone) - Boeotian Pleiad Nymph of Greek Mythology |url=https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheAlkyone.html |website=Theoi Project |access-date=29 July 2023}}</ref>

{{transliteration|grc|Kéyx}} as referring to a sea-bird appears to be related to {{transliteration|grc|kaúax}} ({{lang|grc|καύαξ}}),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beekes |first1=Robert Stephen Paul |last2=van Beek |first2=Lucien |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |date=2010 |volume=1 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-17420-7 |page=691}}</ref> which is a ravenous sea-bird ({{lang|grc|λάρος}}, {{transliteration|grc|láros}}). These suggest that {{transliteration|grc|Kéyx}} may have been turned into either a [[Common gull|sea mew]] or a [[tern]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beekes |first1=Robert Stephen Paul |last2=van Beek |first2=Lucien |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |date=2010 |volume=1 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-17420-7 |page=657}}</ref>

== Mythology ==
[[File:Herbert James Draper - Halcyone (1915).jpg|thumb|280px|[[Herbert James Draper]], ''Halcyone'', 1915.]]

Alcyone was a [[Ancient Thessaly|Thessalian]] princess, the daughter of King [[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]] of Aeolia, either by [[Enarete]]<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.7.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=1:chapter=7&highlight=Alcyone 1.7.3]</ref> or [[Aegiale (daughter of Helios)|Aegiale]].<ref name=":0" /> She was the sister of [[Salmoneus]], [[Athamas]], [[Sisyphus]], [[Cretheus]], [[Perieres (king of Messenia)|Perieres]], [[Deioneus]], [[Magnes (son of Aeolus)|Magnes]], [[Calyce (mythology)|Calyce]], [[Canace]], [[Pisidice]] and [[Perimede (mythology)|Perimede]].

Later on, Alcyone became the queen of [[Trachis]] after marrying King [[Ceyx of Trachis|Ceyx]]. The latter was the son of [[Phosphorus (morning star)#mythology|Eosphorus]] (often translated as [[Lucifer]]).<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 11.271</ref> The couple were very happy together in Trachis.

According to [[Pseudo-Apollodorus]]'s account, this couple often [[sacrilege|sacrilegiously]] called each other "[[Zeus]]" and "[[Hera]]".<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Catalogue of Women|Ehoiai]]'' fr. 15; Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.7.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=1:chapter=7&highlight=Alcyone 1.7.4]</ref> 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 (mythology)|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 kingfisher]]s), named after her. Apollodorus says that Ceyx was turned into a [[gannet]], and not a kingfisher.

Ovid<ref>Ovid,  ''Metamorphoses'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028&layout=&loc=11.411 11.410 ff.-748] (also [http://www.tkline.freeserve.co.uk/Metamorph11.htm#_Toc64105704 here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050419213419/http://www.tkline.freeserve.co.uk/Metamorph11.htm|date=2005-04-19}})</ref> and Hyginus<ref name=":0">[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html#65 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.<ref name="Roman, L. 2010">Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). {{Google books|tOgWfjNIxoMC |Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology |page= 55}}</ref> Ovid also adds the detail of her seeing his body washed ashore before her attempted suicide. [[Pseudo-Probus]], a scholiast on Virgil's ''Georgics'', notes that Ovid followed [[Nicander]]'s version of the tale, instead of Theodorus's starring another [[Alcyone (daughter of Sciron)|Alcyone]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Transformative Change in Western Thought: A History of Metamorphosis from Homer to Hollywood | first = Ingo | last = Gildenhard | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=wiMxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT164 164] | isbn = 978-1-907975-01-1 | publisher = [[Routledge]] | date = July 5, 2017 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wiMxDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

[[Virgil]] in the ''[[Georgics]]'' also alludes to the myth—again without reference to Zeus's anger.<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Georgics]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0058%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D393 1.399] - "[At that time] not to the sun's warmth then upon the shore / Do halcyons dear to [[Thetis]] ope their wings"</ref>

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 the [[Hesiod]]ic poem ''[[Wedding of Ceyx]]'', which was probably about a different [[Ceyx of Trachis|Ceyx]]).<ref>{{cite book | last = Forbes Irving | date = 1990 | page = 240 | title = Metamorphosis in Greek Myths | first = Paul M. C. | publisher = [[Clarendon Press]] |  url = https://books.google.com/books?id=URvXAAAAMAAJ | isbn = 0-19-814730-9}}</ref>

== Halcyon days ==
Ovid and Hyginus both also make the metamorphosis the origin of the term "[[wiktionary:halcyon days|halcyon days]]", the seven days in winter when storms never occur. They state that these were originally the fourteen days each year (seven days on either side of the [[winter solstice|shortest day of the year]]<ref>{{cite book|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/ACL3129.0001.001/123|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology|year=1867|series=Volume 1|page=108|quote=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.|editor=William Smith}}</ref>) during which Alcyone (as a [[kingfisher]]) made her nest on the beach and laid her eggs while her father [[Aeolus]], the god of the winds, helped her do so safely by restraining the winds and thus calming the waves.<ref name="Roman, L. 2010"/> 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 expression {{lang|grc|ἀλκῠονίδες ἡμέραι}} ({{grc-transl|ἀλκῠονίδες ἡμέραι}}) first occurs in [[Aristophanes]]' play ''The Birds'' 1594, then again in [[Aristotle]], [[Philochorus]], and [[Lucian]].<ref>Liddell, Scott, Jones, ''Greek Lexicon'', s.v. {{lang|grc|ἀλκῠονίς}}.</ref> In Latin it occurs as {{lang|la|alcyonides dies}} in [[Pliny the Elder]], {{lang|la|alcyonei}} (''-nĭī'') {{lang|la|diēs}} in [[Columella]] and [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]], {{lang|la|alcyonia}} in [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], and {{lang|la|alcedonia}} in [[Plautus]] and [[Frontinus]].<ref>Lewis and Short, ''Latin Dictionary''.</ref>

== Legacy ==
{{unordered list
| Various kinds of [[kingfisher]]s are named after the couple, in reference to the metamorphosis myth:
{{unordered list |item_style=list-style-type:circle
|The [[genus]] ''[[Ceyx (kingfisher)|Ceyx]]'' (within the [[river kingfishers]] [[family (biology)|family]]) is named after him.
| The kingfisher family Halcyonidae ([[tree kingfisher]]s) is named after Alcyone, as is the genus ''[[Halcyon (genus)|Halcyon]]''.
| The [[belted kingfisher]]'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 ''[[Alcyone (opera)|Alcyone]]'' by the French composer [[Marin Marais]] and the cantata ''[[Alcyone (Ravel cantata)|Alcyone]]'' by [[Maurice Ravel]]
| A collection of Canada's celebrated nature poet, [[Archibald Lampman]], ''Alcyone'', his final set of poetry published posthumously in 1899, highlights both Lampman's apocalyptic and utopian visions of the future.
| [[T. S. Eliot]] draws from this myth in part of his poem ''[[The Dry Salvages]]'':{{cn|date=September 2025}}
{{poemquote|
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.}}}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px">
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.
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Halcyon (dialogue)|''Halcyon'' (dialogue)]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* [[Hesiod]], ''Catalogue of Women'' from ''Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica'' translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Online version at theoi.com] 
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Virgil|Publius Vergilius Maro]], ''Bucolics'', ''Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0058 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* {{SmithDGRBM|wstitle=Alcyone|ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070405150919/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0685.html Smith entry]}}
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000116 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Alcyone and Ceyx)]

{{Metamorphoses in Greek mythology}}
{{Authority control|additional=auto}}

[[Category:Aeolides]]
[[Category:Deeds of Hera]]
[[Category:Deeds of Zeus]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Married couples]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological lovers]]
[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Queens in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological Thessalians]]
[[Category:Hubris myths]]
[[Category:Suicides by drowning]]
[[Category:Deaths due to shipwreck at sea]]
[[Category:Suicides in Greek mythology]]