Alcyone and Ceyx

Some readers like to interpret the story of Alcyone and Ceyx as a tender tale of how love trumps tragedy, but others think of it more as a caution against hubris. In my opinion, love is a form of hubris in itself.

Ceyx was the king of Trachis, a region in central Greece, and was revered by his subjects for his kindness and generosity. Alcyone was the daughter of the wind god Aeolus and the faithful wife to Ceyx. The two of them ruled Trachis side by side. They were admired by gods and mortals alike for their inseparable love for each other, but one god did not share the same sentiment. Alcyone and Ceyx had a playful habit of calling each other Hera and Zeus, which Zeus took as a direct comparison. He was fed up with their arrogance and swore to take revenge.

Not long after, Ceyx decided to seek out the oracle of Apollo in Ionia to consult on his brother’s death. To do that, he would have to cross the stormy Mediterranean. Alcyone sensed danger and begged Ceyx not to go, claiming that not even her father could control the wind spirits on the sea, but Ceyx insisted.

Zeus saw this as the prime opportunity to enact his revenge. He hurled a lightning bolt at Ceyx’s ship, engulfing it in a hurricane. Ceyx realized he was about to die, so before he drowned, he prayed to the gods for his body to be washed ashore so that Alcyone could bury him properly and send him into the afterlife.

Unaware of her husband’s death, Alcyone continued to pray for his safe return. Seeing her devotion, Hera took pity on her. She asked Hypnos, the god of sleep, to send Alcyone a message about her husband’s fate, and Hypnos asked his son Morpheus, the god of apparitions, to tell her. Morpheus appeared before Alcyone wearing the illusion of Ceyx. Upon seeing this, Alcyone realized her husband’s fate. Devastated, she ran to the shore, crying and beating her chest. She uncovered Ceyx’s body on the beach, and, unable to bear living without her beloved, drowned herself in the sea to remain with him.

The Olympians, including Zeus, were incredibly moved. As an apology, Zeus transformed Alcyone and Ceyx into Halcyon birds, also known as the kingfisher. Now, every January, Aeolus  calms the seas and winds for two weeks so that his daughter, now a kingfisher, can safely lay her eggs. Those weeks are now known as the Halcyon days—days of peace, calm, and unstormy seas.