Written in the Stars·Curses — The First Pedophile Rapist
Why is the female nightingale mute?
We recounted in the previous chapter that Labdacus grew up and became king of Thebes. He was engaged in a war with Pandion I (Ancient Greek: Πανδίων), king of Athens, over the border. In order to win, Pandion I married his daughter Procne (Ancient Greek: Πρόκνη, Próknē) to Tereus (Ancient Greek: Τηρεύς), the king of Thrace. But while marrying Procne, Tereus saw Procne’s sister Philomela (Greek: Φιλομήλα). Then, he coveted the beauty of his wife’s sister. He could not restrain his desire for Philomela and searched for a time when he could strike.
Why is the Female Nightingale Mute
We recount the story of Polytechnus (Ancient Greek: Πολύτεχνος, Romanized: Polutekhnos) and Aeton (Ancient Greek: Ἀηδών, Romanized: Aēdṓn) in Written in the Stars·Stand — Destiny in Bad Blood. The story tells of the origin of the nightingale. Now, I will share another story about the origin of the nightingale.
Bistonis was also a nymph. She was the lover of Ares, the god of war, for whom she bore sons Tereus and Dryas (Ancient Greek: Δρύας, gen. Δρύαντος), meaning “oak (oak).” Tereus later became king of Thrace. A Lake Vistonida (Vistonida; Greek: Λίμνη Βιστωνίδα, old form: Βιστωνίς) in Thrace is named after Bistonis.
Labdakos, king of Thebes, attacked Athens. And Pandion, king of Athens, defeated Labdakos by marriage, with the support of Tereus, king of Thrace. Tereus and his wife Procne gave birth to a son, Itys (Ancient Greek: Ἴτυς, Romanized: Ítus). Tereus went to the temple to sacrifice for the birth of his son and received an oracle that his son would be killed by his relatives. Suspecting that his brother Dryas might be the one to kill his son in the future, Tereus murdered him.
Tereus had eyes for another daughter of Pandion, Philomela. Once, he came to Athens and cried to his father-in-law, Pandion, that his wife, Pandion’s eldest daughter Procne, had fallen ill and died. To preserve the alliance between the two families, he asked Pandion to remarry his younger daughter, Philomela.
Pandion agreed to Theos’ request and sent a guard to escort his young daughter to follow Tereus to Thrace. Halfway there, Tereus couldn’t wait to throw the guard into the sea and forcefully have sex with Philomela on a mountain. After finishing measuring Philomela inside and out, Theos brutally cut out her tongue and threatened her never to reveal the truth to anyone. Upon returning to Thrace, Theos gave Philomela to another king of the Thracian region, Lynceus (Ancient Greek: Λυγκεύς), a name that means “lynx-eyed.”
Lynceus’s wife is Lathusa, who is also Procne’s bosom friend. When Lynceus receives Philomela, he sends Philomela to see Lathusa. At Lathusa’s, she learns that her sister is not dead. So she wove a tapestry in which she wove the story of Tereus deceiving her father and raping herself. And through Lathusa, she presents it to Procne. Procne understood the story on the tapestry and came to recognize her sister Philomela. The two decide to take revenge. So killed Itys, the son of Procne and Tereus. Itys was then cooked and served at the table by Procne’s arrangement. Tereus did not recognize the human flesh and ate his innocent son.
After dinner, the two sisters offered the head of Itys, and Tereus realized that the relatives of the oracle who had killed his son were not his own brothers but his wife and his wife’s sister. When the grief-stricken Tereus came to his senses, the two sisters had fled. So Tereus went after them himself. When Tereus caught up with the two sisters, the two frightened sisters prayed to the gods for help. So the gods turned Tereus into a hoopoe or a hawk; the sister Procne into a swallow, whose song is a song of mourning for the loss of a child; and the sister Philomela into a nightingale. Because Philomela had her tongue cut out by Tereus, the female nightingale could not sing. The poor innocent child, Itys, was turned into a pheasant.
Hidden Secrets
After becoming pregnant from adultery with Zeus, Antiope (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόπη) fled to Sicyon for fear of her father, Nycteus. Then, She married Epopeus, king of Sicyon. After the death of Polydorus, king of Thebes, Nycteus was regent to assist Polydorus’ youngest son, Labdakos. He led an attack on Sicyon and died in failure. Then, when the youngest son of Polydorus, Labdakos, became an adult and succeeded to the throne, he attacked Pandion, the king of Athens. That led to the marriage of Pandion’s daughter to Tereus, and the joint of Athens and Thrace defeated Thebes. After the death of Labdakos, Lycus was regent. To finish the last wish of his brother, Nycteus, Lycus led another attack on Sicyon, which led to a victory over Epopeus and the forced return of Antiope. Antiope gave birth to twins Amphion (Ancient Greek: Ἀμφίων, Romanized: Amphīōn) and Zethus (Ancient Greek: Ζῆθος Zēthos) on her way back to Thebes.
That brings us to the first problem: Antiope became pregnant after her adultery with Zeus, married Epopeus, and waited until Lycus brought her back for as little as five or six years or as long as more than ten years. In between, she gave birth to two more children for Epopeus. So how could the child she gave birth to on her way back to Thebes be the seed of Zeus?
After Lycus brought his brother’s daughter, his niece Antiope, back to Thebes, how could Lycus’ wife, Dirce (ancient Greek: Δίρκη), hate Antiope with a passion? To persecute a woman who had long ago become an adult had no conflict of interest for her? That leads us to the second question: what did Dirce hate so much about Antiope that she had to imprison and brutally torture her?
Legend has it that Epopeus was the son of Poseidon (Greek: Ποσειδῶν) and that his mother was Canace (Greek: Κανάκη), whose name means “barking.” She was a princess of Thessaly (Greek: Περιφέρεια Θεσσαλίας). Some versions also claim that Epopeus’s mother was Alcyone (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκυόνη) of the Pleiades (Greek: Πλειάδες). After marrying Antiope, Epopeus had a daughter, Oenope or Oinope (Ancient Greek: Οινόπη). There was also a son, Marathon (Ancient Greek: Μαραθῶνα), who later fled from his father’s tyrannical rule to the coast of Attica (Greek: Αττική, Ancient Greek Attikḗ or Attikī́) in the territory of Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, Marathónas; Attic/Katharevousa: Μαραθών, Marathṓn), east of Athens. After the death of Epopeus, Marathon returned and inherited the kingdom but divided it among his sons and returned to Attica to live out his old age.
Antiope conceived Amphion, the son of Zeus, and then Oenope and Marathon, the sons of Epopeus. After giving birth to a son and a daughter of Epopeus, she conceived Zethus. After more than a decade, the birth of two twins, Amphion and Zethus, was an impossible mission. In some of the hidden Greek legends, Lycus also coveted Antiope’s beauty. So, following this clue, it makes sense that Lycus impregnated his niece after taking Antiope. Zethus is supposed to be Lycus’ son. By Zeus’ divine valor, the seed was planted and must be fruit. How could it be that the seeds that could grow were not sown until Lycus and Antiope were in love? It is more likely that Oenope, the first child born to Antiope after her marriage to Epopeus, was the child of Zeus. Oenope later became Poseidon’s lover and bore Poseidon Megareus (Ancient Greek: Μεγαρέας or Μεγαρέως). Meccanus later became king of Onchestos (Greek: Ογχηστός), which was northwest of Thebes and was famous for its sanctuary of Poseidon.
Considering that Hermes (Hermes; Greek: Ἑρμῆς) prevented Amphion and Zethus from killing Lycus, then perhaps Amphion was the son of Hermes. Of course, it doesn’t matter because in ancient Greek mythology, most mortals who pretended that the gods were their fathers were doing nothing more than covering up their mother’s scandal or exalting themselves. Hermes prevented Amphion and Zethus from killing Lycus to stop the brothers from committing patricide.
So, this perfectly explains why Dirce is frantically persecuting Antiope, the biggest threat to her position as queen. The reason for keeping Antiope locked up was to prevent her from dating Lycus.
Begins as Tragedy, Must End as Tragedy
Hermes gave Amphion a golden lyre and taught him to sing and compose music, making him a great singer and musician in ancient Greece. It would seem to make more sense that they were father and son. Of course, there is another hidden legend that they were gay lovers.
Probably adopted by shepherds as a child and living a nomadic life, Zethus had a keen interest in cattle raising, and he went on to become a hunter and rancher. He had some technical improvements in animal husbandry. When they became co-regents of Thebes, they built fortifications for Thebes. Legend has it that it was Apollo’s order that they built the fortified walls around Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes. As Zethus struggled to carry the stones, Amphion played the golden lyre, and the boulders followed him, gently sliding where they should go.
Probably related to being adopted by shepherds as a child and living a nomadic life, Zethus had a keen interest in raising cattle, and he went on to become a hunter and rancher. He had some technical improvements in animal husbandry. When they became co-regents of Thebes, Apollo ordered them to build the fortified walls around Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes. As Zethus struggled to carry the stones, Amphion played the golden lyre, and the boulders followed him, gently sliding where they should go.
Amphion married Niobe (Greek: Νιόβη). Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus (Ancient Greek: Τάνταλος, Tántalos) and Eurythemista or Eurythemiste (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυθεμίστη). Eurythemista was the daughter of a river god Xanthus or Xanthos (Ancient Greek: Ξάνθος). The story of Tantalus we told in detail earlier in Written in the Stars·Stand — Feast of Human Flesh. Tantalus was the king of the kingdom of Lydia (Ancient Greek: Λυδία, Romanized: Lūdiā; Latin: Lȳdia). Lydia was located in western Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey. It was an Iron Age kingdom. The people there were adept at playing the seven-stringed lyre. So Amphion must have learned the seven-stringed lyre from his wife. He added three more strings to make it a ten-stringed instrument. Amphion and Niobe had seven sons and seven daughters.
The end of Zethus brings the third story about the nightingale in Greek mythology. He married Thebe (Ancient Greek: Θήβη). In fact, Thebes was named after his wife. She was the daughter of Zeus’s seduced Megaclite. Megaclite was the daughter of Macareus (Ancient Greek: Μακαρεύς Makareus), king of Locris (Modern Greek: Λοκρίδα, Romanized: Lokrída; Ancient Greek: Λοκρίς, Romanized: Lokrís). Macareus means “happy.”
Zethus and Thebe had only one son, whose name was Itylus (Ancient Greek: Ἴτυλος). Thebe was jealous of Amphion and Niobe, who had seven boys and seven girls, and she wanted to kill their eldest son, Amaleus (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαλεύς, Romanized: Amaleús). Itylus and Amaleus were very close. They often slept together at night. Once Thebe instructed Itylus to sleep inside the bed. But Itylus forgot and still slept outside. In the darkness of the night, Thebe accidentally killed his son, Itylus.
When Zethus found out, he angrily hunted down Thebe. Thebe pleads for help from her father-in-law, Zeus, who turns her into a nightingale. The grieving Zethus committed suicide.
Happiness is inevitably vain. Niobe went around bragging about her fertility. Believing that the more children, the more blessings, she boasted that she surpassed Leto (Ancient Greek: Λητώ, Dorian: Λατώ), who had only one son and one daughter. She forgot that Leto’s son was Apollo, god of the sun and arrows, and his daughter was Artemis, god of the moon and hunting. So, Leto had the two children avenge themselves. Apollo shot the seven sons of Amphion and Niobe, and Artemis shot their seven daughters.
Grieving, Niobe returned to her native Sipylus (Ancient Greek: Σίπυλος), where “the nymphs danced by the river, and Niobe, though turned to stone, was still immersed in the sorrow brought on by the gods.”
Upon seeing the bodies of his children, Amphion angrily stormed the temple of Apollo in protest, only to be shot by Apollo as well.
If Amphion is really the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, then Zeus would never have allowed Apollo to act so presumptuously. That also proves that Amphion is not a descendant of Zeus at all. So when he suffered the tragedy of extermination, Zeus was just treated as the cycle of the wheel of fate in the world, crushing another family.
After the death of the two, the throne of Thebes was once again vacant.
The First Pedophile Rapist
Nycteus and Lycus were both descendants of Spartoi. When they ruled, the Thebans, not wishing to see the line of Cadmus thus interrupted, were smuggling Laius or Laios (Ancient Greek: Λάϊος, romanized: Láïos), the son of Labdacus, out of the city. Laius fled to Pisa, where he was sheltered by King Pelops (Greek: Πέλοψ). Laius became the tutor of the king’s illegitimate son, Chrysippus (Greek: Χρύσιππος, Romanized: Khrýsippos), meaning “Golden Horse,” and taught Chrysippus the skill of driving a chariot.
When Pelops asked Laius to take Chrysippus to the Nemean Games, mad desire drove Laius to rape Chrysippus. Thus, Laius is considered the progenitor of pedophilic love and the first pedophile rapist.
After the deaths of Amphion and Zethus, Laius kidnapped Chrysippus and returned to Thebes, where he regained the throne with the help of the Thebans. Chrysippus’ father, Pelops, thus sacrificed to the gods, cursing Laius that he would be killed by his own son, a son who would also have to marry his own mother, Laius’ wife.
Apollodorus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, Apollodoros ho Athenaios; c. 180 BC-… after 120 BC) was a Greek scholar, historian and grammarian. He left (or perhaps was forced to flee) the port of Alexandria around 146 BC. He probably traveled to Pergamon (Greek: Πέργαμον) and eventually settled in Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Romanized: Athína; Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Romanized: Athênai). Apollodorus records the history of this passage as follows:
Polydorus, having become king of Thebes, married Nycteis, daughter of Nycteus, son of Chthonius, and begat Labdacus, who perished after Pentheus because he was like-minded with him(Translator’s note: Apollodorus implies that Labdacus was murdered by the Bacchanals because he set himself against the celebration of their orgiastic rites. But there seems to be no express mention of his violent death in ancient writers). But Labdacus having left a year -old son, Laius, the government was usurped by Lycus, brother of Nycteus, so long as Laius was a child. Both of them had fled [ from Euboea] because they had killed Phlegyas, son of Ares and Dotis the Boeotian, and they took up their abode at Hyria, and thence having come to Thebes, they were enrolled as citizens through their friendship with Pentheus.
So after being chosen commander-in-chief by the Thebans, Lycus compassed the supreme power and reigned for twenty years, but was murdered by Zethus and Amphion for the following reason. Antiope was a daughter of Nycteus, and Zeus had intercourse with her. When she was with child, and her father threatened her, she ran away to Epopeus at Sicyon and was married to him. In a fit of despondency Nycteus killed himself, after charging Lycus to punish Epopeus and Antiope.
Lycus marched against Sicyon, subdued it, slew Epopeus, and led Antiope away captive. On the way she gave birth to two sons at Eleurethae in Boeotia. The infants were exposed, but a neatherd found and reared them, and he called the one Zethus and the other Amphion. Now Zethus paid attention to cattle-breeding, but Amphion practised minstrelsy, for Hermes had given him a lyre. But Lycus and his wife Dirce imprisoned Antiope and treated her despitefully.
Howbeit, one day her bonds were loosed of themselves, and unknown to her keepers she came to her sons cottage, begging that they would take her in. They recognized their mother and slew Lycus, but Dirce they tied to a bull, and flung her dead body into the spring that is called Dirce after her. And having succeeded to the sovereignty they fortified the city, the stones following Amphion’s lyre; and they expelled Laius. He resided in Peloponnese, being hospitably received by Pelops; and while he taught Chrysippus, the son of Pelops, to drive a chariot, he conceived a passion for the lad and carried him off.
— Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0–674–99135–4
All curses are gods’ judgment of fate. Mortals who expect to curse others must offer sacrifices to gods in exchange for gods’ judgment on fate. Curses are therefore divine confinement of humans, the predetermination of humans’ fate. Man’s fight against divine destiny is a war against fate. The curse of Pelops became the future of Thebes, the cruelest prophecy, and an incestuous tragedy finally unfolds on the great stage of history.
Arno Will, December 19–21, 2023, revised September 30, October 1
Ideas and Myths·Awakening
Ideas and Myths·Purpose For Man
Ideas and Myths·Written in the Stars
Written in the Stars·Predestined Fate
Written in the Stars·Destinies
Written in the Stars·Stand
Written in the Stars·Curses
Curses — Necklace of Harmonia
Curses — Punishment by Bacchus
Curses — The Agave-Ino Paradox
Curses — Satyr Legend
Curses — The First Pedophile Rapist
Ideas and Myths·Liberation
