Philomela
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9.9
- proper noun
- /ˌfɪləˈmiːlə/
- Literature
:
Filomela
- According to Ovid, Procne's husband Tereus rapes her sister Philomela and, to conceal his horrid act, cuts out her tongue.
- the Philomela myth
Examples
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By juxtaposing two rape stories—Philomela's and the woman's at Whitehall—Woolf unweaves the patriarchal version, and in the space created, gives voice to the real victim.
Fiction book (1993) -
Woolf underscores silencing as the heart of her literary history in the encounters between Bart and Lucy, where Lucy replays Philomela’s role.
Fiction book (1993) -
Hera, queen of gods, protect this child, my sister Philomela.
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But clearly for Philomela and her descendants, books may be neither vital nor transcendent.
Fiction book (1993) -
Philomela manages to weave the story in a cloth that she sends to Procne.
Fiction book (1991) -
Lavinia, wert thou thus surprised, sweet girl, ravished and wronged as Philomela was?
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In the story of Philomela, the tongue, when it has been cut out, is compared to the severed tail of a snake, still twitching (VI, 557-60).
Academic text (2000) -
Just as Isa hears the woman scream in the space between the chimes, so does Woolf let Philomela speak by proxy in the gaps of unwoven text.
Fiction book (1993) -
Others point to Procne and Philomela, Persephone and Demeter—all stories of female violation and sisterhood that shape Woolf's text.
Fiction book (1993) -
In Greek mythology, Philomela was transformed into a nightingale, symbolizing her sorrow and poetic lament.
Synonyms
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9.9
A woman in Greek myth who becomes a nightingale after an attack
Surface Forms
Etymology
Philomela comes from the Greek parts philo- 'loving' and mel- 'song'. In Greek myth Philomela was changed into a nightingale, so the name now stands for sorrow and a mournful, poetic voice.