Disclaimer:
Not to be used as a substitute to the real thing! Only by reading Ovid's words will you get the full effect of all the beautiful details.
Tereus, Procne, Philomela:
Tereus was the saviour of Athens so he was allowed to marry the king's daughter, Procne. However, the marriage started off wrong because none of the people that should have blessed the union were there (Juno, the Graces, etc) and the people that shouldn't have been there were there (the Furies, the screech owl). Eventually, Procne began to miss her sister and requested that she be allowed to visit. Tereus then went off to ask her father's permission; no big deal, right? Well, actually this was where the trouble started because when he saw the sister, Philomela, he turned into a lustful louse. Unfortunately, the king agreed to let her go with Tereus. Then, when they reached their destination, Tereus could not wait any longer; he had to have Philomela. He took her to a hut, raped her, cut out her tongue so she could not tell, and raped her again. Tereus then went home and told Procne that Philomela had died. Then, Philomela wove the story of what happened into a piece of cloth and sent it to her sister. After reading the cloth, Procne rescued her sister and together they sought revenge. To make Tereus pay, the sisters murdered Tereus's a
nd Procne's son and feed him to Tereus. As Tereus
was eating, Philomela ran in with the boy's head. The grieving father tried to slaughter the women, but before he could catch them, they turned into hoopoe birds. So, I guess the take home message is when you get married, don't forget the importance of the right guest list.
Tereus was the saviour of Athens so he was allowed to marry the king's daughter, Procne. However, the marriage started off wrong because none of the people that should have blessed the union were there (Juno, the Graces, etc) and the people that shouldn't have been there were there (the Furies, the screech owl). Eventually, Procne began to miss her sister and requested that she be allowed to visit. Tereus then went off to ask her father's permission; no big deal, right? Well, actually this was where the trouble started because when he saw the sister, Philomela, he turned into a lustful louse. Unfortunately, the king agreed to let her go with Tereus. Then, when they reached their destination, Tereus could not wait any longer; he had to have Philomela. He took her to a hut, raped her, cut out her tongue so she could not tell, and raped her again. Tereus then went home and told Procne that Philomela had died. Then, Philomela wove the story of what happened into a piece of cloth and sent it to her sister. After reading the cloth, Procne rescued her sister and together they sought revenge. To make Tereus pay, the sisters murdered Tereus's a
nd Procne's son and feed him to Tereus. As Tereus was eating, Philomela ran in with the boy's head. The grieving father tried to slaughter the women, but before he could catch them, they turned into hoopoe birds. So, I guess the take home message is when you get married, don't forget the importance of the right guest list.
No comments:
Post a Comment