King Pandion of Athens had two daughters，Procne and Philomela．When Athens was threatened by the wild men，King Tereus of Thrace came to its help．Out of gratitude King Pandion offered Tereus either of his daughters in marriage and the Thracian king chose Procne as wife． For yearsthey lived in Thrace and had one son，Itylus by name．Then Procne became homesick and longed to see her dear sister Philomela．At her repeated requests Tereus sailed to Athens tofetch Philomela．On the way back his evil heart took flame at the sight of Philomela who was then in her beauty of maidenhood．He seized and carried her away by force，cut out her tongue and imprisoned her in a lonely hut in the woods．To Procne he lied，saying that Philomela was dead．Philomela stayed in prison for ayear，where she had woven her painful story into the web of a robe ．Then she managed to send the robe to her sister． As soon as she received the web Procne came over to the woods and to reher sister away from the keepers．

Back at the palace, the two women，hot for paying back ，killed little Itylus and served him up to his father ． When Tereus learned of the terrible truth he grasped his sword and chased the sisters into the woods． There the gods turned Procne into a swallow，Philomela a nightingale and Tereus a hoopoe ．

雅典國王潘底翁有兩個女兒，普魯絲妮和菲勒美拉。當雅典受到蠻人的威脅時，色雷斯國王泰諾斯伸出了援助之手。出于感激，國王潘底翁讓泰諾斯從自己的女兒中任選一位作他妻子。泰諾斯選擇了普魯絲妮。他們在色雷斯生活了許多年，并且生了一個兒子，名叫意大拉斯。由于遠離故土，普魯絲妮患了思鄉病，她非常想見親愛的妹妹菲勒美拉。在她的一再要求下，泰諾斯乘船去雅典接菲勒美拉來與她姐姐團聚。在返回的途中，看到菲勒美拉渾身散發出的青春和美麗，泰諾斯非常嫉妒，頓生歹意。他強行帶走了菲勒美拉，并割去了她的舌頭，將她關在森林中一個偏僻的小茅屋里。在普魯絲妮面前，他撒謊說菲勒美拉已經死了。菲勒美拉被囚禁了整整一年。在囚禁期間，她將痛苦的經歷編織成了一件長袍；然后，她想方設法讓長袍落到她姐姐的手中。普魯絲妮一收到那件長袍就來到了森林，將她妹妹救了出來。

回到宮殿后，姐妹倆急于復仇，殺死了小意大拉斯，并派人將尸體送到他父親那里。國王泰諾斯得知事情真相后，提起劍來把姐妹兩人趕到森林里。在林中，眾神將普魯絲妮變為一只麻雀，將菲勒美拉變為一只夜鶯，而將泰諾斯變成了一只戴勝科鳥。