Alcyone
2004, Bronze, 550cm high.
The myth of Alcyone is one of the first Greek, classical myths in which the
love of a husband and wife overcomes death itself. Alcyone, a beautiful nymph,
the daughter of the God of Wind marries Ceyx, a brave young man, son of Eosphorous,
the Day-star. They are two beings in love with the vastness of the sky and
the seas. Their marriage is such a happy one, even the Gods are envious. But
one day Ceyx is forced to leave his wife in order to go and consult the oracle
on the other side of the Ocean. Only in a dream will Alcyone see her young
lover again, a dream in which he is drowning during a storm. Out of desperation,
she throws herself into the sea, convinced that by dying she will be able to
meet him again and bring him back. The Gods, moved by so much love, decide
to reward her for her courage by transforming her into a halcyon bird and her
husband into a seagull. (Ovid, Met.,XI, 384)
Anna Chromy builds upon this classical vision by adding to it a new, contemporary,
dramatic element: the ecological disruption of our seas. Ceyx becomes both
the victim and the symbol of an affliction which is threatening our existence.
He is drowning because he is tangled up in a large trawl net which is ravaging
the ocean floor. Alcyone is immortalised in the sculpture trying desperately
to free Ceyx from this death trap and the increasingly redeeming nature of
her character emerges. She breaks into flight and manages to pull the lifeless,
beautiful corpse from the water. She, as a woman, cannot bring herself to accept
such a cruel fate. She drags him, with all her might, up high into the sky
onto another plain of existence. Their two bodies form an arc which defies
any hostile destiny. Only acts of love can transform our world. So, by transforming
themselves, out of love, into two winged creatures, Alcyone and Ceyx become
symbols of hope. They represent the yearning of an entire civilisation to evolve,
even if that means going through some tragic metamorphoses.
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