Tereus
heroTereus was a Thracian king who married Procne, then assaulted her sister Philomela and cut out her tongue — the sisters' revenge and transformation is one of mythology's darkest tales.
The Myth
Tereus married Procne and had a son, Itys. He then assaulted Procne's sister Philomela and cut out her tongue to silence her. But Philomela wove a tapestry depicting the crime and sent it to Procne. The sisters took horrific revenge: they killed Itys, cooked him, and served him to Tereus. When he discovered what he had eaten, he pursued them with an axe. The gods transformed all three into birds: Procne became a nightingale (forever mourning), Philomela a swallow, and Tereus a hoopoe.
Parents
Children
Itys (by Procne)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Keats, Eliot, and Shakespeare all reference Philomela — the tongueless woman who found another way to speak became a symbol for art overcoming oppression.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
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