Alcyone is looking for her husband

Archive: Herbert James Draper - Halcyone (1915).jpg

«...with the birds of love, golden wedding-rings
Oh my light, you brought clear skies, Alcyonides Days...».

That is "the song of the Alcyonides", the kingfishers that lay their eggs during the sunny days of January. Here is what Sybille Boutsikari, student in the Athens University, writes: "The Alcyonides Days" may not exist every year. There have been years that those days were missing, such as in 1947; even the starting dates and the ending dates were not stable. Their name is ancient Greek and originates from Aristotle.

Those days got their name (Alcyoniae) from the myth of Greek mythology that has to do with the kingfisher, which represents an allegoric meaning of the homonymous star Alcyone in the Pleiades cluster (of Poulia), nominated by the bird's name. The star Alcyone is the bigger star of the Pleiades cluster, which, together with the Hyades (stars of rain), form the constellation Taurus. Alcyone is in zenith during the evening hours of January and in this way, spots the areas that are situated in the highest point of the sky during this season.

Another version of the "Alcyonides Days", in the "Meteorologika" of Aristotle is the following:

Alcyone got married to Kyikas, son of Eosphoros, that was the king of Trachania, in the coastline of Malliakos, gulf of Fthiotis. One day, Kyikas went off to the oracle of Apollon in Klafos, Ionia. During his journey, he drowned. Then, the Gods, by means of a dream, informed his poor wife who drowned out of grief, after having found the body of her husband! Zeus transformed both of them into a pair of kingfishers and ordered Poseidon to grant them a few days of good weather to nest their eggs.

(Text from Giorgos Kiousis, kiousis@enet.gr)

Photo P.Latsoudis

The Alcyonides Islands are also called Kala Nisia (Good Islands) or Kalanisa.
Their names are: Zoodochos Pigi, Daskalio, Prasonisi and Glaronisi.