April 14: Spring Month

Picus was a Roman king, famous for his prophecy skills. For interpreting the omens, he relied on his tame woodpecker, that accompanied him everywhere. He was married to the nymph Canens, whose lovely singing voice seduced him the first time they met. Picus was as virtuous as he was handsome, and Canens was as caring as she was pretty. Their marriage was a fairy tale of deep affection and mutual respect, so of course, it couldn’t last. It was the witch Kirke, who wanted this attractive human for herself. But with Canens waiting for him at home, Picus had no need for her charms, magical as they might have been. “Thanks, but not thanks,” he joked. Adding – quite brutally: “Even my woodpecker makes better company!” Kirke was outraged. “It will be your only company!” she shouted. And a woodpecker he became. A destraught Canens looked for him for weeks, until – after a last farewell-song – she laid herself at the Tiber bank, and died of sorrow. She never noticed the two weeping woodpeckers on the branch above her head.

Singing Muse, Lekythos, Staatliche Antikensammlungen Munich, Germany

Nymph, Statue (French), The Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, USA