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Aedon

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Wife of Zethus who accidentally killed her son and was changed into a nightingale; her myth explains the bird’s mournful song as an eternal lament.

Detailed Definition
Aedon, wife of King Zethus of Thebes, accidentally killed her son while intending to kill her sister-in-law’s child. Grief-stricken, she was turned into a nightingale, eternally mourning. Her myth, recounted in various sources including Ovid, symbolizes maternal grief and remorse, frequently appearing in elegiac poetry as a voice of sorrow.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ovid’s Metamorphoses tells how Aedon, transformed into a nightingale, mourns her slain son Itylus; In Sophocles’ lost tragedy Tereus, Aedon’s story parallels Philomela’s; Pausanias references Aedon in his Description of Greece as a cautionary tale of jealousy; Aedon appears in later pastoral poetry as a symbol of eternal maternal grief; Greek lyric fragments compare Aedon’s lament to the song of the nightingale.
Additional Notes
Aedon (“nightingale”) is a tragic figure from Greek myth who, in a fit of jealousy or confusion, kills her son Itylus and is transformed into a nightingale, forever lamenting her loss. Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book 6) conflates her with Procne, but earlier sources (e.g., Sophocles’ Tereus) distinguish them. Her song becomes a poetic symbol of eternal grief and maternal sorrow. Students should explore how bird metamorphoses in Ovid serve as emotional and sonic metaphors. The nightingale’s voice in later poetry (e.g., Keats) often echoes Aedon’s myth. Related: Philomela, Procne, avian symbolism.
Also Known As
Aedon the Nightingale Queen Aedon Tragic Songstress Wife of Zethus
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