(Mt. Olympus)

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The Nightingales of Libethra
(Mt. Olympus)
English 1-Louise S. McGehee School 2004
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Orpheus
Greek flag

• son of Calliope and either Apollo or Oeagrus
  (orpheus)
• wife was Eurydice
• Greatest musician and poet of Greek myth
• His lyres music could charm living things as
  well as inanimate objects (Orpheus)
• was an Argonaut they were the heroes who sailed
  in quest of the Golden Fleece (Orpheus)
• of Thracian descent

(Orpheus)
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The Myth

• There is no exact truth as to how he died, but
  some say that Orpheus was torn to pieces by the
  Thracian women and that the God Dionysus had
  asked them to do it.
• His body and lyre were thrown into the river
  Hebrus and floated down to Lesbos. The Muses
  collected his limbs and buried them at the foot
  of Mt. Olympus in Libethra.
• It is said that the nightingales sing sweeter at
  the grave of Orpheus than in any other place in
  the world (Orpheus) (MythologyWeb).
• The Nightingales origin is the Greek city of
  Libethra

(Favorite)
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Libethra's Connection with the Nightingales

• Libethra had received an oracle mentioning the
  bones of Orpheus which said that when the sun
  should see his bones, the city would be destroyed
  by a boar.
• one day by accident the urn containing Orpheus
  bones fell and broke, exposing the bones.
• that same night came a heavy rain, and the river
  Sys (the boar), one of the torrents about
  Olympus, destroyed the walls of Libethra,
  drowning everything (Orpheus).

(Bulfinch)
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Links to Other Myths and Stories

• Because his wife Eurydice was killed by a
  serpent, Orpheus went to the Underworld to ask
  Hades if he would allow her to return to the
  world of the living. Hades allowed it under one
  condition that Orpheus not look back as he was
  bringing her to the surface. Unfortunately,
  before they reached the surface, he looked back
  (Orpheus).
• Philomela was raped by Tereus, her
  brother-in-law. he also cut out her tongue. She
  told the story to her sister, Procne, by weaving
  it into a tapestry. Because procne killed the
  child she had had with Tereus, he tried to kill
  the two sisters. All three were changed into
  birds. Procne was changed into the first
  nightingale (Itys).

Orpheus losing Eurydice
(MythologyWeb)
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Links to Other Myths and Stories Continued

• Aedon and Polytechnos (a married couple) thought
  they were more in love than Zeus and Hera, which
  made the gods angry
• Hera caused rivalry between them making them
  compete as to which of them would finish his work
  first and agreeing that the victor would be given
  a servant by the defeated.
• Polytechnos lost and went to Pandaraeus,
  aedons father, to get Chelidon, Aedons sister,
  who was to be her servant, but Polytechnos raped
  her and shaved her head.
• Chelidon became Aedons servant, but Aedon
  recognized who she was one day when she overheard
  Chelidon complaining .
• They fled to Pandareus. Polytechnos chased after
  them, but was smeared with honey by Pandareus
  men so that the flies tormented him. Zeus
  turned them all into birds according to some,
  Aedon and Chelidon were turned into nightingales
  (Dictionary).

(Print)
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Links with the Modern World

• Sometimes the names Procne and Philomela are
  used in literature to refer to a nightingale,
  even though only the first is really correct
  (Itys).
• The Valley of the Nightingale is a place for
  nature lovers.
• Poets, bards, singers, and their works are
  usually referred to as nightingales
  (Nightingale).
• There is a species of wren called Trogiodytes
  aedon, who was turned into a nightingale

House Wren
(Yankee)
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How Nightingales were Regarded in their Culture

• In some regions and areas the nightingales were
  considered to be good omens, but in others they
  were thought to announce deaths (nightingale).
• The nightingale, who sang of love, was also a
  connection between love and death.
• It was believed to never sleep and to sing all
  night long.
• They were thought to be immortal and could never
  be saddened its song never changed
  (Nightingale).

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Works Cited
Antique Maps and Prints. Jan. 13 2004.
lthttp//www.oldprints.co.uk/prints/birds/images/87
981.htmgt. Brown, Phillip J. Orpheus. Belinus
Press. 19 Feb. 2003. Phillip J. Brown. 13 Jan.
2004. lthttp//www.belinus.co.uk/mythology/Orpheus
.htmgt. Bulfinch, Thomas. The Age of Fable.
Bulfinchs Mythology. 2003. Bob Fisher. 13Jan.
2004. lthttp//www.bulfinch.org/fables/bull24.html
gt. Bulfinch, Thomas. Orpheus and Eurydice.
Mythology Web. 9 Jan. 2004. lthttp//www.mytholog
y.com/orpheuseurydice.htmlgt. Bulfinchs
Mythology. 2003. Bob Fisher. 14 Jan. 2004.
lthttp//www.bulfinch.org/fables/graphics/orpheus
.gifgt. Favorite Birds of Saudi Arabia.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biophysics. 2001. Department of Biochemistry
and Molecular Biophysics at Washington
University. 10 Jan. 2004. lthttp//biochem.wustl.
edu/herr/birds.htmlgt. Hunter, James. Orpheus.
Encyclopedia Mythica. 2003. M.F. Lindemans. 9
Jan. 2004. lthttp//www.pantheon.org/articles/o/o
rpheus.htmlgt. Orpheus. California State
University Northridge. 3 Oct. 1996. J.P. Adams. 9
Jan. 2004. lthttp//www.csun.edu/hcfll004/orpheu
s.htmlgt. Parada, Carlos. Orpheus. Greek
Mythology Link. 2003. Carlos Parada. 10 Jan.
2004. lthttp//homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Orpheu
s.htmgt. Parada, Carlos. Dictionary. Greek
Mythology Link. 2003. Carlos Parada. 11 Jan.
2004. lthttp//homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/001Sho
rtEntries/SECerambus.htmlgt.
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Works Cited Continued
Renaud, C. Dion. Carthage. Carthage College.
13 Jan. 2004. lthttp//www2.carthage.edu/outis/dion
2.htmlgt. ter Huume, Suzanne. Nightingale. The
Animal Files. Suzanne ter Huume. 11 Jan. 2004.
lthttp//www.dierinbeeld.nl/animal_files/birds/nigh
tingale/index.htmlgt. Tucker, Suzetta. The
Bestiary. Christian Legends and Stories. 1998.
Suzetta Tucker. lthttp//ww2.netnitco.net/users/le
gend01/nighting.htmgt. Wikipedia. 9 Jan. 2004.
lthttp//www.4reference.net/encyclopedias/wikipedia
/Itys.html.gt. Yankee Gardner. Yankee Harvest,
LLC. 12 Jan. 2004. lthttp//www.yankeegardener.co
m/birds/house1.htmgt.