Apollo and Diana killing Niobe's children.
The rape of Philomela.
Medea holding her two dead sons and murder weapon.
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The Filicide Trifecta and Background on "The Story of Tereus, Procne, and Philomela"
"The Story of Tereus, Procne, and Philomela" follows "Niobe" and marks the end of book six. In "Niobe", Niobe is a proud mother who denounces the Gods' authority, but she faces consequences from Apollo and Diana, who kill all of her children. In the last stanza of the story, the narrator shifts the focus from Niobe to Tereus, king of Thrace, who is going to marry Procne, the daughter of Pandion.
My story starts at the wedding of Tereus and Procne, and then skips forward five years, after they have their son, Itys. Procne asks Tereus to go get her sister, Philomela, from Athens. He agrees, but once he is in Athens, he is overcome by lust. When he gets back, he rapes her in the forest. To prevent her from talking about the rape and screaming for help, Tereus cuts out her tongue. When Tereus returns to Procne, he tells her that Philomela is dead. A year later, Philomela has weaved the story of her rape into a tapestry and she has made her way into town for a festival. She is then reunited with her sister where they plot their revenge, which is where my section starts. Following my story, at the beginning of book seven, is "The Story of Jason and Medea", where, yet again, the mother, Medea, kills her children to enact revenge on her husband, Jason. I endearingly call the three stories, "Niobe", "The Story of Tereus, Procne, and Philomela" and " The Story of Jason and Medea", the filicide trifecta. |