Tereus, Procne, and Philomela (Met. 6.401-674)

Tereus, the king of Thrace, rapes his wife's sister, Philomela. The queen, Procne, takes revenge by killing her son, Itys, and serving him as a meal to her husband.

Model play.

The Tereus of Sophocles (now lost). This would be an ideal topic for an Ovidian with Greek skills.

Areas to explore.

What did the lost Sophoclean play cover? Where does Ovid go beyond Sophocles? In terms of spectacle, how does Ovid's theatron compare to that of his Greek predecessor?

Bibliography.

• Remains of the Tereus in Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta.
• G. Dobrov, "The Tragic and the Comic Tereus."
• D. H. J. Larmour, "Tragic Contaminatio in Ovid's Metamorphoses."
• B. Otis, Ovid as an Epic Poet.
• C. Segal, "Philomela's Web and the Pleasures of the Text."