Procne, Philomela, And The Voice Of The Peplos

Abstract

Sophocles’ Tereus represents a pivotal moment in the development of the myth of Procne and Philomela (Gantz 1993.240). Almost all later versions of the story can be traced back to the lost tragedy, in which a woven fabric, possibly a peplos (robe), was prominently featured as the catalyst for the development of the plot. According to a secondto third-century ce hypothesis of Sophocles’ Tereus preserved in P.Oxy. 3013 (Parsons 1974.50), Procne, elder daughter of Pandion, king of Athens, was given in marriage to Tereus, king of Thrace, with whom she had a son, Itys.