There is a story in Greek mythology about a woman named Alcyone. Alcyone was married to Ceyx and the two were madly in love with each other. They would go as far as playfully calling each other Zeus and Hera (the king and queen of the gods). When Zeus heard of this, he became infuriated and plotted a way to punish the couple for their sacrilege.
One day, while Ceyx was sailing, Zeus threw a thunderbolt to raise a furious storm. The storm made quick work of Ceyx’s ship and Ceyx sank to the bottom of the sea. With his dying breath, he prayed to the gods to bring his body to the shore so that Alcyone may see him one last time and give him a funeral. The gods took pity and arranged for this to happen.
Meanwhile, Morpheus, god of dreams, appeared before Alcyone in the image of Ceyx, to gently inform her of her husband’s death. Alcyone ran to the shore in grief. There, she found the cold, lifeless body of her beloved husband. The loss of her true love was too much for her to bear. After Ceyx’s funeral, she threw herself in to the sea and drowned, so that she may meet her husband again in the underworld.
The gods, who were admirers of Alcyone and Ceyx’s beautiful love, were deeply saddened by this tragic fate. Zeus decided to atone for his rash actions by transforming the couple into a pair of kingfishers. The two birds lived happily ever after, but found that whenever they tried to lay eggs on the beach during the winter, strong waves would wash them away. Alcyone’s father Aeolus, god of the winds, saw this and calmed the winds for two weeks every winter, so that the couple may lay their eggs and make a nest in peace. Kingfishers have been referred to as halcyons since then.
Nowadays, the term halcyon days refers to a period of peace and calm, particularly during times of hardship.
Perhaps it is an allusion to the fact that we can navigate through any adversity when we are with our loved ones.
