Tereus: Difference between revisions
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In [[Greek mythology]], '''Tereus''' ({{Lang-grc|Τηρεύς}}) was a [[Thracians|Thracian]] king,<ref name=T>[[Thucydides]]: ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'' [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:29|2:29]]</ref><ref>''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022&layout=&loc=3.14.8 3.14.8]</ref> the son of [[Ares]] and husband of [[Procne]]. Procne and Tereus had a son, [[Itys]]. |
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Tereus''' ({{Lang-grc|Τηρεύς}}) was a [[Thracians|Thracian]] king,<ref name=T>[[Thucydides]]: ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'' [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:29|2:29]]</ref><ref>''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022&layout=&loc=3.14.8 3.14.8]</ref> the son of [[Ares]] and husband of [[Procne]]. Procne and Tereus had a son, [[Itys]]. |
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Tereus desired his wife's sister, [[Philomela (princess of Athens)|Philomela]]. He forced himself upon her, then cut her [[tongue]] out and held her captive so she could never tell anyone. He told his wife that her sister had died. Philomela wove letters in a [[tapestry]] depicting Tereus's crime and sent it secretly to Procne. In revenge, Procne killed |
Tereus desired his wife's sister, [[Philomela (princess of Athens)|Philomela]]. He forced himself upon her, then cut her [[tongue]] out and held her captive so she could never tell anyone. He told his wife that her sister had died. Philomela wove letters in a [[tapestry]] depicting Tereus's crime and sent it secretly to Procne. In revenge, Procne killed Niobe and Tereus' son Itys and served his flesh in a meal to his father Tereus. When Tereus learned what she had done, he tried to kill the sisters but all three were changed by the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian Gods]] into [[bird]]s: Tereus became a [[hoopoe]]; Procne became the [[nightingale]] whose [[song]] is a song of mourning for the loss of her son; Philomela became the [[swallow]]. Because she has no tongue she can only twitter instead of singing. |
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The names "Procne" and "Philomela" are sometimes used in literature to refer to the nightingale, though only the former is mythologically correct. |
The names "Procne" and "Philomela" are sometimes used in literature to refer to the nightingale, though only the former is mythologically correct. |
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Revision as of 08:28, 24 September 2011
In Greek mythology, Tereus (Ancient Greek: Τηρεύς) was a Thracian king,[1][2] the son of Ares and husband of Procne. Procne and Tereus had a son, Itys.
Tereus desired his wife's sister, Philomela. He forced himself upon her, then cut her tongue out and held her captive so she could never tell anyone. He told his wife that her sister had died. Philomela wove letters in a tapestry depicting Tereus's crime and sent it secretly to Procne. In revenge, Procne killed Niobe and Tereus' son Itys and served his flesh in a meal to his father Tereus. When Tereus learned what she had done, he tried to kill the sisters but all three were changed by the Olympian Gods into birds: Tereus became a hoopoe; Procne became the nightingale whose song is a song of mourning for the loss of her son; Philomela became the swallow. Because she has no tongue she can only twitter instead of singing.
The names "Procne" and "Philomela" are sometimes used in literature to refer to the nightingale, though only the former is mythologically correct.
Tereus was also a common given name among Thracians.[1]
Modern adaptations
- The Love of the Nightingale, play by Timberlake Wertenbaker
- The Love of the Nightingale, opera by Richard Mills to a libretto from the above play
- "The new Tereus", available at http://www.archive.org/details/LustsDominiontereus
- "The Machine" by M. Rickert (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 2003; reprinted in Holiday, Golden Gryphon Press, 2010