Philomela

Philomela is a figure in Greek mythology, the daughter of Pandion I, king of Athens, and the sister of Procne. Her name is often associated with the nightingale, a link that arises from the myth in which her suffering becomes a symbol of lament and voice.

In the most familiar version, Philomela is raped by her brother-in-law Tereus, the king of Thrace, who cuts out her tongue to prevent her from speaking of the crime. Unable to speak, Philomela learns to communicate through weaving. She weaves a tapestry that tells Procne what happened and sends it to her sister. Enraged, Procne kills her own son, Itys, and serves him to Tereus as punishment. When Tereus learns of the deception, the gods transform the three into birds: Philomela becomes a nightingale, Procne a swallow, and in some tellings Tereus is transformed into a hoopoe.

The myth is widely treated as a meditation on violence, speech and silencing, vengeance, and the resilience of female solidarity. The nightingale’s mournful song is often read as a voice reclaimed from oppression. The story appears in ancient Greek and Roman sources, most notably in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and has influenced later literature, drama, and visual art, shaping enduring symbolic associations with the nightingale and the themes of suffering and speech.