Then came the witch.
But Circe’s cruelty didn’t stop there. She left him with his human mind intact. Trapped inside the body of a small, restless bird, Picus could still think, still remember his wife, still understand his fate—but he could never speak, never hold a spear, never return to his throne. When Canens realized her husband was gone, she searched for him for six days and six nights, calling his name. On the seventh day, heartbroken and exhausted, she threw herself into the Tiber River and dissolved into song. Her body faded away, but the Romans believed that her voice could still be heard in the whisper of the wind over the water. Then came the witch
Never spurn a witch.
But in ancient Roman mythology, the woodpecker—known as —was far more than just a bird. He was a god. And his story is one of the strangest and most captivating tales from the classical world. Who Was Picus? In the pre-Roman mythology of the Latins, Picus was the son of Saturn (the god of time and generation) and the father of Faunus (the god of the forest). He was the original king of Latium (the region where Rome would one day rise). Trapped inside the body of a small, restless
When you think of woodpeckers, you probably think of a rhythmic tap-tap-tap echoing through the woods, or perhaps a flash of red crest against a tree trunk. You probably don’t think of prophecy, witchcraft, or the tragic downfall of a king. Her body faded away, but the Romans believed
The sorceress —the same enchantress who turned Odysseus’s men into pigs—fell madly in love with Picus. She saw him hunting in her woods and was immediately obsessed. But Picus rejected her scornfully. "I belong to Canens alone," he said. "I will never be yours."
