Who is the Hoopoe/Epops, formerly Tereus?
Well, as a human he apparently was not a great guy. Here is a bit of his story from Wikipedia: Keep in mind, Procne and Philomela are sisters.
Procne's husband, king Tereus of Thrace (son of Ares), agreed to travel to Athens and escort Philomela to Thrace for a visit. Tereus lusted for Philomela on the voyage. Arriving in Thrace, he forced her to a cabin in the woods and raped her.
In Ovid's Metamorphoses Philomela's defiant speech is rendered as (in translation)
"Now that I have no shame, I will proclaim it.
Given the chance, I will go where the people are,
Tell everybody; if you shut me here,
I will move the very woods and rocks to pity.
The air of Heaven will hear, and any god,
If there is any god in Heaven, will hear me."
This incited Tereus to cut out her tongue and leave her in the cabin.
Philomela then wove a tapestry (or a robe) that told her story and had it sent to Procne. In revenge, Procne killed her son by Tereus, Itys (or Itylos), and served him to Tereus, who unknowingly ate him. When he discovered what had been done, Tereus tried to kill the sisters; they fled and he pursued but, in the end, all three were changed by the Olympic Gods into birds.
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