Procne (; grc, Πρόκνη, ''Próknē'' ) 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
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.
They are distinct from river gods, who ...
Zeuxippe and her siblings were
Philomela,
Erechtheus,
Butes and possibly
Teuthras.
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
, ''Ethnica'' s.v.
Thespeia
' She married King
Tereus of
Thrace and became the mother of
Itys
In Greek mythology, Itys ( grc, Ἴτυς, Itus) is a minor mythological character, the son of Tereus, a king of Thrace, by his Athenian wife Procne. Itys was murdered by his own mother and served to be consumed during dinner by his father, as p ...
(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.
Procne killed Itys, boiled him and served him as a meal to her husband.
After he had finished his meal, the sisters presented Tereus with the severed head of his son, and he realised what had been done.
[ Ovid, '' Metamorphoses'' 6.424–674 (*Note that the line numbers vary among translations).] He snatched up an axe and pursued them with the intent to kill the sisters.
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.
Apollodorus
Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...
, 3.14.8 The gods transformed Procne into a
swallow, Philomela into a
nightingale and Tereus into a
hoopoe.
The swallow
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
''
Progne'', ''
Ptyonoprogne
The crag martins are four species of small passerine birds in the genus ''Ptyonoprogne'' of the swallow family. They are the Eurasian crag martin (''P. rupestris''), the pale crag martin (''P. obsoleta''), the rock martin (''P. ...
'' and ''
Psalidoprocne
The saw-wings, ''Psalidoprocne'', is a small genus of passerine birds in the swallow family. The common name of this group is derived from the rough outer edge of the outer primary feather on the wing, which is rough due to recurved barbs. The f ...
'' and the treeswift family ''
Hemiprocnidae'' derive their names from the myth.
See also
*
Gudrun
Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two que ...
*''
Titus Andronicus''
Notes
References
*
Apollodorus
Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...
, ''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
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
, ''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
*
{{Authority control
Princesses in Greek mythology
Queens in Greek mythology
Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology
Attican characters in Greek mythology
Legendary birds
Attic mythology