Alcyone of Trachis Aeolus, god of the winds, restrained the winds and calmed the waves so she could do so in safety. The phrase has since come to refer to any peaceful time. Its proper meaning, however, is that of a lucky break, or a bright interval set in the midst of adversity; just as the days of calm and mild weather are set in the height of winter for the sake of the kingfishers' egglaying. Alcyone of Trachis In Greek mythology, Alcyone or Alkyone (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκυόνη "Halkyónē" derived from "alkyon" αλκυων "kingfisher") was a Thessalian princess and later on queen
Pleiades (Greek mythology) or the loss of their siblings, the Hyades. In turn Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, immortalized the sisters by placing them in the sky. There these seven stars formed the star cluster known thereafter as the Pleiades. The Greek poet Hesiod mentions the Pleiades several times in his "Works and Days". As the Pleiades are primarily winter stars, they feature prominently in the ancient agricultural calendar. Here is a bit of advice from Hesiod: The Pleiades would "flee mighty Orion and plunge into the misty deep" as they set in the West, which they would begin to do