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Tereus, a MythSource painting
Greek

Tereus

King of Thrace · Son of Ares · Father of Itys

01Identity

Tereus in Greek tradition

As King of Thrace, Tereus, son of Ares, aided Pandion when war broke out between Athens and Thebes, and then married Pandion’s daughter, Procne. Procne bore him a son, Itys, but Tereus later raped her sister Philomela, cut out her tongue, and concealed her while falsely claiming that Procne had died. After Procne learnt the truth and the sisters killed Itys and served him to Tereus, he pursued them before the gods changed the three into birds.

Top questions

The quick answers

02Family

Tereus’s family, at a glance

AresBistonis
Tereus

with Procne

Itys
03The myths

The myths of Tereus

4 myths, with sources recorded for each, with 1 reviewed modern rework linked where the evidence supports it.

The Banquet of Itys

Tereus, having fallen in love with Philomela, the younger sister of his wife Procne, told her father Pandion that Procne was dead. Pandion then gave Philomela to Tereus in Procne’s place and sent Athenian guards with her to Daulis. Tereus murdered the guards before Philomela arrived. He raped her, hid her in the country, and cut out her tongue so that she could not reveal what he had done. Procne was confined among the slaves and was also unable to speak.

Philomela nevertheless found a way to tell Procne of her suffering. In one account, she wove characters into a robe and used it to communicate the truth. Procne recovered her sister and brought her back. When Philomela said that Tereus had pretended Procne was dead and had attacked her, Procne could not answer with words. She seized their son Itys instead.

Procne dragged Itys into a secluded room. He cried out for his mother as she struck him with a sword. Philomela then cut his throat. The sisters divided his body, boiled some of the pieces in a copper cauldron, and roasted others on spits. When Tereus returned, they served him the flesh without telling him what he was eating.

During the meal, Tereus asked where Itys was. The sisters then revealed what they had done. Tereus understood that he had eaten his own son, seized the axe with which he had killed Dryas, and pursued them as they fled. He overtook them near Daulis in Phocis and was about to kill both sisters when the gods changed them into birds. Procne became a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, and Tereus a hoopoe. The Phocians say that swallows do not nest in Daulis or its surroundings, and that nightingales do not sing there because they fear Tereus.

The Banquet of Itys, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

The Last World

Book

Tereus recast as the town butcher married to Procne; the rape, mutilation, infanticide and cannibalism of the Itys story restaged as the novel's climactic, most violent episode.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Ovid, MetamorphosesT1

    Quote

    “Tereus ate the flesh of his own son before Procne and Philomela revealed the deed, after which the gods changed the sisters and Tereus into a swallow, nightingale, and hoopoe.”

    Ovid, Metamorphoses

  3. 3Shakespeare's Ovid, being Arthur Golding's translation of the MetamorphosesT1

Tereus Attacks Philomela

Tereus, son of Ares, ruled the Thracians who occupied Phocian Daulis, though some accounts made him king of Pagae in Megaris. After mediating a boundary dispute for Pandion, king of Athens, he married Pandion’s daughter Procne. She bore him a son, Itys. Tereus then became enamoured of Procne’s younger sister Philomela because of her voice. He hid Procne in a country cabin near his palace and told Pandion that she was dead. Pandion offered Philomela to Tereus in Procne’s place and sent Athenian guards to escort her to Daulis for the wedding.

Tereus murdered the guards. Before Philomela reached the palace, he had raped her. When she protested and threatened to reveal his crime, he seized her, bound her hands, and cut out her tongue. He confined her among the slaves, so that she could not speak of what had happened. Procne learned the truth. Unable to answer Philomela with speech, she took her son Itys, killed him, gutted him, and boiled him in a copper cauldron for Tereus to eat when he returned.

Tereus recognised the flesh he had eaten and seized the axe with which he had killed Dryas. He pursued the sisters as they fled from the palace. He caught them and was about to kill them both when the gods changed all three into birds. Procne became a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, and Tereus a hoopoe. The Phocians said that no swallow nested in Daulis or nearby places, and that no nightingale sang there, because both feared Tereus. The swallow, lacking a tongue, screamed and flew in circles. The hoopoe pursued her, crying, ‘Where? Where?’ The nightingale withdrew to Athens and mourned continually for Itys, whose death she had caused without intending it.

Tereus Attacks Philomela, a MythSource painting of the scene

2 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Tereus raped Philomela, cut out her tongue, and confined her, but Procne learnt what had happened, killed Itys, and served his flesh to Tereus before the gods changed all three into birds.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

Tereus, Son of Ares

Tereus, son of Ares, ruled the Thracians who then occupied Phocian Daulis. Another account makes him king of Pagae in Megaris. Pandion, king of Athens, had two daughters, Procne and Philomela, and twin sons, Erechtheus and Boutes. When a boundary war broke out with Labdacos, Pandion called Tereus from Thrace for assistance. Tereus helped bring the war to a successful end, and Pandion gave him Procne in marriage. Another version says that Tereus acted as mediator in a boundary dispute for Pandion before marrying her.

Procne bore Tereus a son, Itys. Tereus then became enamoured of Philomela, Procne’s younger sister. He raped her and told her that Procne was dead. He hid Procne in a country cabin near his palace at Daulis, and in one account confined her among the slaves. To prevent her from revealing what had happened, he cut out her tongue. Philomela was taken to the palace, where Tereus had already forced her to lie with him. In another account, he first concealed Philomela in the countryside and cut out her tongue.

Procne learnt of the crime despite Tereus’s precautions. Philomela wove signs of her suffering into a robe and used it to communicate with her sister. Procne recovered Philomela, and the two women fled together. Procne killed Itys, boiled him, and served him to Tereus as a meal without telling him what he was eating.

When Tereus discovered what had happened, he seized an axe and pursued the sisters. He caught up with them as they reached Daulis in Phocis.

Tereus, Son of Ares, a MythSource painting of the scene

2 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Tereus, son of Ares and ruler of the Thracians at Daulis, married Pandion’s daughter Procne, fathered Itys, and later attacked Philomela before pursuing both sisters after they killed his son.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

Tereus Aids Pandion Against Labdacus

When war broke out between Pandion, king of Athens, and Labdacus of Thebes over the boundaries of their lands, Pandion called on Tereus, son of Ares, to assist him from Thrace. With Tereus’s help, Pandion brought the war to an end. He then gave Tereus his daughter Procne in marriage. Procne went with him, and they had a son named Itys.

Tereus later desired Procne’s sister, Philomela. He raped her and concealed what he had done. He told her that Procne was dead, hid her in the countryside, and cut out her tongue so that she could not speak. Philomela made a robe marked with characters that revealed her suffering. She sent it to Procne, who understood the message and recovered her sister.

Procne then took Itys, killed him, and boiled his body. She served the flesh to Tereus without telling him what he was eating. After the meal, he discovered the truth and seized an axe. He pursued Procne and Philomela as they fled. The sisters were overtaken at Daulis in Phocis, and Tereus was about to kill them when the gods changed all three into birds.

Procne became a swallow, Philomela became a nightingale, and Tereus became a hoopoe. The Phocians said that no swallow nested in or near Daulis, and that no nightingale sang there, because of fear of Tereus. The swallow, having no tongue, screamed and flew in circles. The hoopoe pursued her, calling, ‘Where? Where?’ In another account, the nightingale withdrew to Athens and mourned continually for Itys.

Tereus Aids Pandion Against Labdacus, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Tereus aided Pandion against Labdacus, received Procne as his wife, and was changed into a hoopoe with the sisters after discovering that Procne had killed Itys and served him the boy’s flesh.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

  3. 3The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Tereus, each on that figure’s page.