Greek Mythology: Procne & Philomela

When Erichthonius died, his son, Pandion, succeeded him to the throne of Athens. The newly crowned king married his mother's sister, Zeuxippe, and begat two daughters, Procne and Philomela, and two twin sons, Erechtheus and Voutis.

It was a happy and prosperous period, as, according to legend,

Demeter and

Dionysus visited Attica and introduced the people of Athens to the secrets of vine planting and the art of winemaking. But good times rarely last. And it wasn't long before various border disputes, between Athens and Thebes, led to a bloody war.

The Athenian army lost several battles and suffered significant losses. In despair, Pandion dispatched a messenger to Thrace, pleading Tereus, son of

Ares, to side with him in the war against Thebes. Tereus gladly accepted Pandion's invitation and marched south, ahead of his mighty troops, to assist the demoralized Athenians.

The Thebean

hoplites were seasoned warriors, but they couldn't resist the combined Athenian and Thracean forces for long. So, they were put to rout by the allies. To express his gratitude to Tereus, Pandion gave him his daughter, Procne, in marriage.

Tereus took Procne to his northern kingdom and, before long, the couple was blessed with a son, whom they named Itys (or Itylus, according to some sources).

Some years later, Tereus visited his father-in-law, in Athens. As was customary at the time, Pandion organized a banquet and had his second daughter, Philomela, dance in his son-in-law's honor. Bewitched by the beauty and grace of his wife's sister, Tereus decided to abduct her. So, he told Pandion that Procne had fallen severely ill and needed her sister's care to recoup. Of course, the unsuspecting Pandion instructed Philomela to accompany Tereus to Thrace.

During the long journey, Tereus raped Philomela and ripped her tongue out to prevent her from telling her sister or anyone else, for that matter, what had transpired. And, to make sure his crime wouldn't become known, the wicked king jailed the unfortunate maiden in one of his palace's damp, dark dungeons.

But Philomela somehow managed to weave a beautiful cloth, depicting her mishaps, and bribed one of her jailers into delivering it to her sister. Procne immediately realized what had happened and, with the aid of the prison guard, freed Philomela from her musty cell. The two sisters got together and decided to take revenge on Tereus for his wrongdoings.

So Procne slaughtered her son, Itys, stewed him and served the gruesome dish to Tereus. As soon as the atrocious Tereus was done eating, Procne retrieved the lad's head from a leather bag and tossed it onto the crumb littered table. Realizing what his meal had consisted of, Tereus passed out and the two murderesses fled for Athens.

When Tereus came to, he grabbed a double-sided axe and headed south, to hunt down the sisters. He finally caught up with them halfway between Thrace and Athens. But, as he lifted his razor-sharp weapon to behead them, the terror-stricken women begged the gods for mercy. The gods pitied them and transformed Procne into a nightingale (Luscinia megarynchos) and Philomela into a swallow (Hirundo sp.). They also transformed Tereus into a hoopoe (Upupa epops).

To this day, Procne, the nightingale, still cries out her lost son's name, "Ity-Ity-Ity", day and night. Philomela, the swallow, lacking a tongue, mutters her rapist's name unintelligibly. And Tereus, the hoopoe, who is still after the two sisters, can be frequently heard yelling "pooh-pooh-pooh" (pou, pronounced "pooh", means where, in Greek).

Fragmentary tragedy by

Sophocles