Some Days Are Better Than Others

Alcyone and Ceyx were very fond of each other, in the true sense of the word, which meant that they exhibited a foolish affection for each other. So much so that they gave each other the pet names 'Zeus' and 'Hera' and inspired the wrath of Zeus, once he stopped gagging at their insufferable and cloying excesses. So much for love in the Greek scheme of things. When Ceyx boarded a ship headed for the Oracle, Zeus wrecked it and killed Ceyx.

Today, the wretching heard when you see a couple carrying on in this fashion, is probably the remnant of Zeus roaming around trying his best to suit up his old powers and zap the two of them into dust.

Anyway, back to the story. Alcyone, at home and worried sick about Ceyx, prayed to Hera to protect her already dead husband and Hera felt shitty about what had happened. Alcyone fell asleep and Morpheus appeared to her in a dream as her husband and gave her the bad news. This happened a lot, I guess. Morpheus could take human form and pop into people's dreams to tell them stuff. Maybe that was easier than just walking over and ringing the bell. He appeared to me the other night as Elisha Cuthbert and I woke up very disturbed at the implications.

Alcyone was pretty messed up by the news and ran right down to the water and threw herself in. She wasn't a great swimmer, though, and so she drowned too. Now Aeolus, who was both the father of Alcyone and the God of Winds was pretty pissed at Zeus, understandably. He kicked up a fuss and Zeus, possibly with Hera hounding him too, turned them both into birds, which at that time was supposed to be a form of punishment for suicides. I wouldn't mind being turned into a bird when my time comes. It would keep the grocery bills down and I could get rid of my car.

Alcyone and Ceyx were reunited as kingfishers, birds which nest on the open water on the floating bits of debris they called home. The only problem was that the waves kept breaking up the nest. Aeolus noticed this and he calmed the winds so that seven days before the winter solstice and seven days after things were quiet for the two lovers as they hatched eggs and cared for their offspring. The name by which kingfishers became known was Halcyones and the period of calm while they nested was called Halcyon Days, a period of serenity and happiness and rejoicing. Isn't that a nice story?

The moral is don't make a scene with your girl or you'll end up floating around on the ocean with a bunch of baby birds demanding all your time. Or maybe its get a room and you won't get tossed into the drink and make your girlfriend commit suicide. Or maybe its watch out for grumpy old guys who get pissed when you pretend you're them. I don't know exactly what the Greeks thought they were trying to teach us but it is fun to sit and reminisce about the good old days every now and again.