Itylos

Itylos ( Greek  Ἴτυλος ) is a figure in Greek mythology . He and his sister Nëis were children of the Theban rulers Zethos and the Aëdon .

myth

His mother Aëdon envied her sister-in-law Niobe - Itylos' aunt - the numerous offspring. In a maddened state, she wanted to murder her eldest son Sipylos , who slept in the same room as Itylos. However, she mistook the bed and killed her own child. When she realized the error, she begged the gods to take her human form. Zeus then transformed her into a nightingale, which since then has been lamenting the victim with the cry "ityn, ityn" .

According to another version, Prokne is that nightingale: In revenge on her husband Tereus , she dismembered their son Itys .

literature

• Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher: Itylos . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.1, Leipzig 1894, Col. 569-573 ( digitized version ).
• Karl Kerényi : The Mythology of the Greeks . Vol. II: The Heroes Stories . 7th edition. dtv, Munich 1984, p. 76. ISBN 3-423-01346-X
• Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher: Aëdon . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1.1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 83-85 ( digitized version ).