Tereus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Tereus

8 passages from 4 ancient authors that tell of Tereus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Tereus was a king of Thrace in Greek mythology, son of the god of war Ares. He was married to Procne, with whom he had a son, Itys. Tereus lusted for... For the story in one place, read our article on Tereus.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.14.1–8Cecrops, Athena and Poseidon, and the early kings of AthensCecrops, a son of the soil, is the first king of Attica, and in his reign Athena and Poseidon contend for the land and the gods award it to Athena. The section covers Cecrops's daughters, Cephalus, Cinyras and Adonis, the kings Cranaus, Amphictyon and Erichthonius (born from Hephaestus's seed), the gift of wine to Icarius and Erigone's death, and ends with Pandion and the story of Procne, Philomela and Tereus.

Aristophanes (2)

Aristophanes, Birds 1–74Prologue: Euelpides and Peisthetaerus look for the HoopoeTwo men, Euelpides and Peisthetaerus, wander about behind a crow and a jackdaw that they bought as guides and that now point in different directions. Euelpides explains that they have left their city because its people chirp over their lawsuits all their lives, and that they want a quiet place in which to settle. They hope that Tereus the hoopoe, who has flown over many lands, can tell them of the right city, and they bang on the rock to call him, which brings out his frightened servant.
Aristophanes, Birds 75–159Episode: the Hoopoe appears; the two men ask for a restful cityA servant bird takes the two men for bird-catchers and goes to wake his master the Hoopoe. The Hoopoe comes out with his feathers moulted and admits that he was once the man Tereus. The two ask him for a city as soft as a thick rug, and Euelpides refuses each place that the Hoopoe suggests, until Peisthetaerus cries out that he sees a great scheme within reach of the birds.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.542–674Procne's revengeTereus cuts out Philomela's tongue and keeps her shut in the hut, telling his wife that her sister is dead. Philomela weaves the story into a web and sends it to Procne, who, at the feast of Dionysus (Bacchus), frees her sister and brings her home. In her rage Procne kills her son Itys, and serves his flesh to Tereus at dinner, and then shows him the head. Tereus chases the two sisters with a sword, and the gods change all three into birds: Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow, and Tereus into a hoopoe.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.412–541Tereus and PhilomelaThe kings of Greece come to console Pelops, but Athens, beset by war, sends no one. Tereus, king of Thrace, who has helped Athens, is given the king's daughter Procne in an ill-omened marriage. Years later Procne asks to see her sister, and Tereus goes to Athens to fetch Philomela, and desires her. He takes her to a hut in the woods and rapes her, and she reproaches him bitterly and says that she will tell everyone what he has done.

Pausanias (3)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.41.1–9Megara: tomb of Alcmena, the lion of Cithaeron and the tomb of TereusPausanias describes the tomb of Alcmena, the altar of Achelous, the tomb of Hyllus, and the temple of Apollo and Artemis built by Alcathous after he killed the lion of Cithaeron. He criticises the Megarian version of the story, arguing that Alcathous came after the fall of Megara in Nisus’ reign. He then lists the shrine of Pandion, the tomb of the Amazon Hippolyte and the barrow of Tereus, whom he places at Daulis rather than Megara.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.4.1–10Panopeus and Daulis: Prometheus' clay, the tomb of Tityus and the story of TereusPausanias describes Panopeus, a poor city by a ravine whose dancing-grounds are explained by the Thyiads, and its image said to be Aesculapius or Prometheus beside two clay stones that smell of human flesh. He mentions the tomb of Tityus and Cleon's tale of a sea-man five roods long, then Daulis, where Tereus was served his son and where swallows do not nest, and the shrine of the hero-founder at Tronis.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.5.1–5Athens: the Rotunda and the eponymous heroes of the tribesNear the Council House is the Rotunda, where the presidents sacrifice, and above it stand statues of the heroes who gave their names to the Athenian tribes, among them Hippothoon, Antiochus, Ajax, Leos, Erechtheus, Aegeus, Oeneus and Acamas. Pausanias distinguishes two kings called Cecrops and two called Pandion, and tells of Pandion’s exile at Megara and of Tereus, Procne and Philomela. He adds the later tribes named after Attalus, Ptolemy and the Emperor Hadrian, and mentions Hadrian’s benefactions.