Tereus
Thracian king who raped Philomela, cut out her tongue, and was transformed into a hoopoe bird.
The Legend of Tereus
He cut out his victim's tongue so she could not accuse him — and she wove the accusation into a tapestry instead. Tereus married Procne, daughter of the Athenian king Pandion, then raped her sister Philomela while escorting her from Athens. He cut out Philomela's tongue and imprisoned her. But Philomela wove a tapestry depicting the crime and sent it to Procne. The sisters took revenge by killing Itys, Tereus and Procne's son, and feeding him to his father. When Tereus discovered the truth and drew his sword, the gods transformed all three into birds. Tereus became a hoopoe — a bird with a war-crest and a call that sounds like "where? where?" as if still hunting for his prey. Ovid and Sophocles both told this story.
Parents
Ares
Children
Itys
Symbols
Fun Fact
The hoopoe's call was interpreted by Greeks as pou-pou (where-where) — Tereus eternally searching for his victims.
Explore Further
Tereus
🗡 heroKing who was transformed into a hoopoe
Tereus 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.
Philomela
🗡 herotransformation
Athenian princess whose tongue was cut out by her rapist Tereus, who wove her story into a tapestry to reveal the crime.
Tereus and Philomela
🗡 herovengeance, transformation
The myth of a Thracian king who assaulted his sister-in-law and cut out her tongue, only for the sisters to exact gruesome revenge.
Aerope
🗡 heroAdultery, royalty
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus
Harpalyce
🗡 heroFemale Warrior, Revenge, Transformation
Thracian princess raised as a warrior who was transformed into a bird after a cycle of horrific revenge.
Nisus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A king of Megara whose city was invulnerable as long as a magical purple lock of hair remained on his head, betrayed when his daughter Scylla cut it for love of Minos
Alcyone
🗡 heroLove, transformation, birds
Queen of Trachis who was transformed into a kingfisher bird alongside her devoted husband Ceyx
Ceyx and Alcyone
🗡 herotransformation
King and queen who loved each other so deeply the gods transformed them into kingfisher birds to be together after death.
Procne
🗡 herovengeance
Athenian princess married to Tereus who killed her own son Itys to avenge her sister Philomela's rape.
Pelops
🗡 herokingship
Son of Tantalus, restored to life by the gods with an ivory shoulder, who won his bride by cheating in a chariot race and cursed his line.
Pandion
🗡 herokingship
King of Athens who married off his daughters Procne and Philomela, both of whom suffered terribly at the hands of Tereus.
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.