the.com/halcyon days
The golden era you only recognize once it's over and unrecoverable.
means A period of calm, happiness, or prosperity, usually remembered wistfully after it's ended.
from From Greek myth: the halcyon was a mythical bird, later identified with the kingfisher, said to nest on the sea and calm the waves during the winter solstice so its eggs could hatch safely. Ancient writers believed Alcyone, turned into this bird after a tragic love, was granted 'halcyon days' — about two weeks of magically still winter seas blessed by the gods. The phrase drifted from literal calm weather to its modern sense of any blissfully peaceful, prosperous stretch of time.
- origin
- greek myth bird who calmed seas to nest
- etymology
- literally means kingfisher days
- usage trap
- always past tense, never present
- irony
- myth about forced calm, not actual peace