Procne and Itys (sculpture)

In Greek mythology, Procne was an Athenian princess, daughter of King Pandion I, who was given as wife to King Tereus of Thrace, and bore him a son, Itys. Years passed and Procne wished to see her sister Philomela again. Tereus agreed to go to Athens and escort Philomela to Thrace, but during the journey back home, he raped and imprisoned the young Philomela, and cut off her tongue so that she could not tell anyone what transpired. Tereus went to Procne and lied about her sister dying. Philomela, unable to speak, wove a tapestry instead and sent it to Procne. Procne rescued her sister, and wanting to enact revenge on her husband, slew their little son Itys, and fed him to this father during dinner. Tereus, furious, grabbed his sword and chased down the two sisters. In the end, the gods transformed all three into birds; Procne into a nightingale, Philomela a swallow, and Tereus a hoopoe. == History ==

The statue was made during the Classical Greek era, around 430 BC, The sculpture was dedicated by the sculptor Alcamenes, who is taken to have been its creator as well. It was discovered the year 1836 in front of the western tower of the Propylaea, near the temple of Athena Nike. It is now housed in the Acropolis Museum in Athens with inventory number 1358. == Description ==

The life-size statue is made of marble. Procne (and thus the sculpture as a whole) is 1.63 m. tall (without the head), while Itys stands at 1,05 m. Its total width amounts to 44 cm. The head of Procne, her right hand where she would have held the knife, and the legs and large parts of the torso of Itys are not preserved. A marble head was also found and presumed to belong to this statue, but is not currently attached due to doubts whether it really is Procne's head. == See also ==