Aëdon
Aëdon is a figure in Greek mythology who predates the myth of Procne and Philomela. Earlier mentions of Aëdon have her kill her son Itylus or Itys unknowingly in an effort to hurt her rival sister-in-law Niobe by killing her son. Those earlier stories concerning Aëdon however do not include a sister or swallows.
↻ synthesized from 3 sources
When
- First attested
- 800 BCE
- Attested period
- -800 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Appears in Homer.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Cameiro, Clytia, Pandion I, Amphion, Artemis (Diana), Zeus, Aphrodite, harpies, Hera, Athena, Pandareus, Hermes, Dione, Tantalus
- enemy of
- Niobe
- serves
- Erinyes
- consort of
- Zethus
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“A sixth-century BC metope from Apollo's temple at Thermos depicts Chelidon and Aëdon plotting together over something that has been broken off. Some vases, although with much less certainty, also seem to depict the scene of Itys's murder by Aëdon-Procne and Philomela-Chelidon.”
#42419 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“After the deaths of their parents, the orphaned Cleothera along with Merope were raised by the goddess Aphrodite, while Aëdon, the eldest daughter, married Zethus, the king of Thebes.”
#42478 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat
“Zethus's wife and Niobe's sister-in-law was Aëdon, who had a single child, Itylus. Aëdon was jealous of the vast progeny Niobe had produced, so she conceived a plan to kill Niobe's firstborn, a boy named Amaleus.”
#42673 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001