Submitted Name Revision History

Derived from Greek ἀηδών (aēdōn) "songstress" or from Greek ἀηδονίς (aēdonis) "nightingale". Also compare Greek ἀοιδή (aoidē) meaning "song". This was the name of a legendary queen of Thebes who plotted to kill her rival NIOBE's son, but killed her own son accidentally. In grief, she was transformed by the gods into the first nightingale, a bird that still haunts the night with its mournful cry. Similarly, in the Homeric legend Aëdon was the wife of ZETHUS and mother of ITYLUS, whom she slew by mistake; ZEUS transformed her into a nightingale, which nightly laments its murdered child.