Ceyx and Alcyone | Greek Mythology |

Ceyx and Alcyone | Greek Mythology and the Greek Gods |
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From Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods & Heroes by Edith Hamilton

00:10 Lovers of Great Descent

Ceyx, a king in Thessaly was the son of Lucifer, the light bearer, the star that brings in the day, and all his father's bright gladness was in his face. His wife Alcyone was also of highs descent. She was the daughter of Aeolus, King of the Winds. The two loved each other devotedly and were never willingly apart.

00:33 Ceyx Leaves Alcyone

Nevertheless, a time came when he decided he must leave her and make a long journey across the sea. Various matters had happened to disturb him, and he wished to consult the Oracle, men's refuge in trouble. When Alcyone learned what he was planning, she was overwhelmed with grief and terror. She told him with streaming tears and in a voice broken with sobs that she knew as few others could the power of the winds upon the sea.

“Oh, do not go, but if I cannot persuade you, at least take me with you. I can endure whatever comes to us together." Ceyx was deeply moved, for she loved him no better than he loved her, but his purpose held fast. He felt that he must get counsel from the oracle and he would not hear of her sharing the perils of the voyage. She had to yield and let him go alone.
Her heart was so heavy when she bade him farewell it was as if she foresaw what was to come. She waited on the shore watching the ship until it sailed out of sight.

01:56 Fierce Storm Takes Ceyx

That very night, a fierce storm broke over the sea. The winds all met in a mad hurricane, and the waves rose up mountain-high. Rain fell in such sheets that the whole heaven seemed falling into the sea, and the sea seemed leaping up into the sky. The men on the quivering, battered boat were mad with terror, all except one who thought only of Alcyone and rejoiced that she was in safety. Her name was on his lips when the ship sank and the waters closed over him.

02:40 Prayers to Juno

And many times each day she prayed to the gods for him, to Juno most of all. The goddess was touched by those prayers for one who had long been dead. She summoned her messenger Iris and ordered her to go to the house of Somnus, god of sleep, and bid him send a dream to Alcyone to tell her the truth about Ceyx.

03:02 Iris Visits Somnus

The abode of Sleep is near the black country of the Cimmerians. There came Iris in her cloak of many colors, trailing across the sky in a rainbow curve, and the dark house was lit up with the shining of her garments. Even so, it was hard for her to make the god open his heavy eyes and understand what he was required to do. As soon as she was sure he was really awake and her errand done, Iris sped away.

The old god of sleep aroused his son, Morpheus, skilled in assuming the form of any and every human being, and he gave him Juno's orders. On noiseless wings Morpheus flew through the darkness and stood by Alcyone's bed.

04:29 Morpheus Visits Alcyone

He had taken on the face and form of Ceyx drowned. Naked and dripping wet he bent over her couch. "Poor wife," he said, "look, your husband is here. Do you know me or is my face changed in death? I am dead, Alcyone. Your name was on my lips when the waters overwhelmed me. There is no hope for me anymore. But give me your tears. Let me not go down to the shadowy land unwept."

She cried aloud, "Wait for me. I will go with you," and her cry awakened her. She woke to the conviction that her husband was dead, that what she had seen was no dream, but himself. "I saw him on that very spot," she told herself. "So piteous he looked. He is dead and soon I shall die. Could I stay here when his dear body is tossed about in the waves? I will not leave you, my husband. I will not try to live."

05:36 Alcyone Searches for Ceyx

With the first daylight she went to the shore, to the headland where she had stood to watch him sail away. As she gazed seawood, far off on the water she saw something floating. The tide was setting in and the thing came nearer and nearer until she knew it was a dead body. She watched it with pity and horror in her heart as it drifted slowly toward her. And now it was close to the headland, almost beside her. It was he, Ceyx, her husband.

06:07 Couple Changed To Birds

She ran and leaped into the water, crying, "Huband, dearest!" --and then oh, wonder, instead of sinking into the waves she was flying over them. She had wings; her body was covered with feathers. She had been changed into a bird. The gods were kind. They did the same to Ceyx.

As she flew to the body it was gone, and he, changed into a bird like herself joined her. But their love was unchanged. Every year there are seven days on end when the sea lies still and calm; no breath of wind stirs the waters. These are the days when Alcyone broods over her nest floating on the sea.