Procne
Procne (/ˈprɒkni/; Ancient Greek: Πρόκνη, Próknē [pró.knɛː]) is a minor figure in Greek mythology. She was an Athenian princess as the elder daughter of a king of Athens named Pandion.
Family[]
Procne's mother was the naiad Zeuxippe and her siblings were Philomela, Erechtheus, Butes[1] and possibly Teuthras.[2] She married King Tereus of Thrace and became the mother of Itys (Itylos).
Mythology[]
Procne's beautiful sister Philomela visited the couple and was raped by Tereus, who tore out her tongue to prevent her revealing the crime. She wove a tapestry which made it clear what had been done, and the two women took their revenge.[3]
Procne killed Itys, boiled him and served him as a meal to her husband.[4] After he had finished his meal, the sisters presented Tereus with the severed head of his son, and he realised what had been done.[4] He snatched up an axe and pursued them with the intent to kill the sisters.[4] They fled but were almost overtaken by Tereus. In desperation, they prayed to the gods to be turned into birds and escape Tereus' rage and vengeance.[5] The gods transformed Procne into a swallow, Philomela into a nightingale and Tereus into a hoopoe.[4] The swallow genera Progne, Ptyonoprogne and Psalidoprocne and the treeswift family Hemiprocnidae derive their names from the myth.
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.15.1
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica s.v. Thespeia
- ^ Salisbury, Joyce E. (2001). Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient World. ABC-CLIO Ltd. ISBN 1576070921.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.424–674 (*Note that the line numbers vary among translations).
- ^ Apollodorus, 3.14.8
References[]
- Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philomela and Procne. |
- Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). . In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
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- Princesses in Greek mythology
- Queens in Greek mythology
- Women in Greek mythology
- Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology
- Characters in Greek mythology
- Attic mythology
- Legendary birds