Asteroid 196, Philomela, was discovered on May 14, 1879 by C.H.F. Peters at Clinton, New York. It has a period of 5 years, 182 days and is about 101 miles in diameter.
It was named for Philomela, who was the sister of Procne, wife of Tereus, king of Thrace. Tereus raped Philomela and cut out her tongue to keep her from reporting the crime, but she wove a tapestry depicting what had been done to her and sent it to Procne, who punished Tereus by slaughtering their young son Itys and serving him to Tereus for dinner. When she told him what he'd eaten, Tereus tried to kill her and Philomela both, but all three were changed into birds: Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow, and Tereus into a hoopoe. The asteroid Philomela got its name because Peters, who also discovered asteroid 195 Procne the previous March 21 (the date of the 1879 spring equinox), associated Procne with swallows and swallows with spring, and Philomela with the nightingale and with May.
Procne and Philomela, by Peter Paul Rubens
Astrologically, asteroid Philomela seems to indicate victimization, misunderstandings, communication problems, chicanery; possibly "the truth will out," disabling injuries or conditions, self-expression through art. .