Alcyone was the daughter of King Aeolus of Aeolia. She was a Thessalian princess and later queen of Trachis. She was married to Ceyx and were very happy together. According to Pseudo-Apollodorus’s account, they often sacrilegiously called each other “Zeus” and “Hera”. This angered Zeus, so while Ceyx was at sea (going to consult an oracle, according to Ovid), the god threw a thunderbolt at his ship. Soon after, Morpheus, the god of dreams, disguised as Ceyx, appeared to Alcyone as an apparition to tell her of his fate, and she threw herself into the sea in her grief. Out of compassion, the gods changed them both into common kingfishers, or “halcyon birds”, named after her.