The
Telegony (
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
: ,
Tēlegoneia; ) is a lost
ancient GreekAncient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic , Classical , and Hellenistic periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
epic poemAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
about
TelegonusIn Greek mythology, Telegonus was the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus.When Telegonus grew up, Circe sent him to find Odysseus, who by this time had finally returned to Ithaca from the Trojan War. On his arrival Telegonus began plundering the island, thinking it was Corcyra...
, son of
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
by
CirceIn Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic living on the island of Aeaea....
. His name ("born far away") is indicative of his birth on
AeaeaAeaea or Eëa was a possibly mythological island said to be the home of the sorceress Circe. Odysseus tells Alcinous that he stayed here for a year on his way home to Ithaca....
, far from Odysseus' home of
IthacaIthaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 45 square miles and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent municipality of the Kefallinia Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia...
. It was part of the Epic Cycle of poems that recounted the myths not only of the
Trojan War but also of the events that led up to and followed the war. The story of the
Telegony comes chronologically after that of the
OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon. Indeed it is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of...
, and is the final episode in the Epic Cycle. The poem was sometimes attributed in
AntiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
to
Cinaethon of SpartaCinaethon of Sparta or Kinaithon of Lakedaimon is a legendary Greek poet to whom different sources ascribe the lost epics Oedipodea, Little Iliad and Telegony. Eusebius says that he flourished in 764/3 BC....
, but in one source it is said to have been stolen from
MusaeusMusaeus was the name attributed to three Greek poets.-Pupil of Orpheus:Musaeus was a mythical seer and priest, the pupil or son of Orpheus, and was said to have been the founder of priestly poetry in Attica. According to Pausanias, he was buried on the Museum Hill, south-west of the Acropolis...
by Eugamon or
Eugammon of CyreneEugammon of Cyrene was an early Greek poet to whom the epic Telegony was ascribed. According to Clement of Alexandria, he stole the poem from the legendary early poet Musaeus; meaning, possibly, that a version of a long-existing traditional epic was written down by Eugammon. He is said to have...
(see
Cyclic poetsCyclic Poets is a shorthand term for the early Greek epic poets, approximate contemporaries of Homer. We know no more about these poets than we know about Homer, but modern scholars regard them as having composed orally, as did Homer. In the classical period, surviving early epic poems were...
). The poem comprised two books of verse in
dactylic hexameterDactylic hexameter is a form of meter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme. It is traditionally associated with the quantitative meter of classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin, and was consequently considered to be the Grand Style of classical poetry...
.
Title
In
AntiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
the
Telegony may have also been known as the
Thesprotis (Greek: Θεσπρωτίς), which is referred to once by
PausaniasPausanias was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between...
in the second century CE; alternatively, the
Thesprotis may have been a name for the first book of the
Telegony, which is set in
ThesprotiaThesprotia is one of the prefectures of Greece in the periphery of Epirus. Its capital is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is bounded by Albania to the north, the prefecture of Ioannina to the east and Preveza prefecture in the south. It is one of the smallest Greek prefectures in terms of area and...
. Such naming of isolated episodes within a larger epic was common practice for the ancient readers of the
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
ic epics.
A third possibility is that there was a wholly separate epic called the
Thesprotis; and yet a fourth possibility is that the
Telegony and
Thesprotis were two separate poems that were at some stage compiled into a single
Telegony. Most scholars at present tend to regard the third and fourth possibilities as unlikely, or at least worthless hypotheses, since neither possibility is demonstrable or falsifiable.
Date
The date of composition of the
Telegony is uncertain.
CyreneCyrene was an ancient Greek colony in present-day Shahhat; Libya, the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times.Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar uplands...
, the native city of Eugammon, the purported author, was founded in 631 BCE; but the narrative details may have existed prior to Eugammon's version, perhaps even in the
oral traditionOral tradition, oral culture and oral lore are messages or testimony transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. There is a distinct possibility that the author of the
Odyssey knew at least some version of the
Telegony story (the Thesprotian episode and Telegonos' unusual spear in the
Telegony may have been based on
TiresiasIn Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for being transformed into a woman for seven years...
' prophecy in
Odyssey book 11; but it is also possible that the
Odyssey poet used the Telegonus story as a basis for Teiresias' prophecy). Certainly Eugammon's poem is most likely to have been composed in the 6th century BCE.
Content
The
Telegony comprises two distinct episodes:
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
' voyage to
ThesprotiaThesprotia is one of the prefectures of Greece in the periphery of Epirus. Its capital is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is bounded by Albania to the north, the prefecture of Ioannina to the east and Preveza prefecture in the south. It is one of the smallest Greek prefectures in terms of area and...
, and the story of
TelegonusIn Greek mythology, Telegonus was the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus.When Telegonus grew up, Circe sent him to find Odysseus, who by this time had finally returned to Ithaca from the Trojan War. On his arrival Telegonus began plundering the island, thinking it was Corcyra...
. Probably each of the two books of the
Telegony related one of these episodes. In current critical editions only two lines of the poem's original text survive. For its storyline we are dependent primarily on a summary of the Telegonus myth in Proclus'
ChrestomathyChrestomathy is a collection of choice literary passages, used especially as an aid in learning a foreign language....
. The poem opens after the events depicted in the
Odyssey. According to Proclus' summary, the
Telegony opens with the burial of
PenelopeIn Homer's Odyssey, Penelópē is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually rejoined with him....
's suitors. Odysseus makes sacrifices to the Nymphs. He makes a voyage to
ElisElis, or Eleia is an ancient district, that corresponds with the modern Ilia Prefecture...
, where he visits an otherwise unknown figure
Polyxenos, who gives him a bowl depicting the story of
TrophoniusTrophonius or Trophonios was a Greek hero or daimon or god - it was never certain which one - with a rich mythological tradition and an oracular cult at Lebadaea in Boeotia....
. Odysseus returns to Ithaca and then travels to
ThesprotiaThesprotia is one of the prefectures of Greece in the periphery of Epirus. Its capital is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is bounded by Albania to the north, the prefecture of Ioannina to the east and Preveza prefecture in the south. It is one of the smallest Greek prefectures in terms of area and...
, presumably to make the sacrifices commanded by
TiresiasIn Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for being transformed into a woman for seven years...
in
Odyssey 11. There he weds the Thesprotian queen
KallidikeKallidike , queen of Thesprotia, wife of Odysseus, they had a son together, Polypoetes. According to the Telegony , Odysseus was sent on another voyage by the gods after killing all of Penelope's suitors. He journeyed through Epirus and came upon the nation of Thesprotis...
, who bears him a son,
PolypoitesIn Greek mythology, Polypoites or Polypoetes was a name attributed to the following individuals:*Polypoites was a son of Hippodamia and Pirithous. A native of Gyrtone , he led the armies of Thessaly on the side of the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was among those who vied for Helen's hand in...
. Odysseus fights for the Thesprotians in a war against the neighbouring Brygoi; the gods participate in the war,
AresIn Greek mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, he is more accurately the god of bloodlust, or slaughter personified: "Ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war."-Etymology:Ares is the god of war...
routing Odysseus and the Thesprotians, countered by
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
, ever Odysseus' patron;
ApolloIn Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian deities...
intervenes between the battling gods. However,
KallidikeKallidike , queen of Thesprotia, wife of Odysseus, they had a son together, Polypoetes. According to the Telegony , Odysseus was sent on another voyage by the gods after killing all of Penelope's suitors. He journeyed through Epirus and came upon the nation of Thesprotis...
is killed in the war, Polypoetes succeeds to the kingdom and Odysseus returns to Ithaca.
Meanwhile, it transpires that
CirceIn Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic living on the island of Aeaea....
, with whom Odysseus had an affair for a year in the
Odyssey (books 10-12), has born his son,
TelegonusIn Greek mythology, Telegonus was the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus.When Telegonus grew up, Circe sent him to find Odysseus, who by this time had finally returned to Ithaca from the Trojan War. On his arrival Telegonus began plundering the island, thinking it was Corcyra...
(Τηλέγονος, "born far away"). He grows up living with Circe on the island of
AeaeaAeaea or Eëa was a possibly mythological island said to be the home of the sorceress Circe. Odysseus tells Alcinous that he stayed here for a year on his way home to Ithaca....
. On the goddess
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
's advice Circe tells him the name of his father. In a detail inserted into the account in pseudo-
ApollodorusApollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...
, Epitome of the Bibliotheke she gives him a supernatural spear to defend himself which is tipped with the sting of a poisonous stingray and was made by the god Hephaestus. A storm forces Telegonus onto Ithaca without his realising where he is. As is customary for Homeric heroes in unfriendly land, he commits piracy, and unwittingly begins stealing Odysseus' cattle. Odysseus comes to defend his property. During the ensuing fight, Telegonus kills Odysseus with his unusual spear, thereby partially fulfilling Tiresias' prophecy in
Odyssey 11 that death would come to Odysseus "out of the sea" (i.e. the poison of the ray). (In another respect, however, Odysseus' death contradicts the prophecy of Tiresias, who predicted (
Od. 11.135) that a "gentle death" would come to Odysseus "in sleek old age") As Odysseus lies dying, he and Telegonus recognise one another, and Telegonus laments his mistake. Telegonus brings his father's corpse,
PenelopeIn Homer's Odyssey, Penelópē is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually rejoined with him....
, and Odysseus' other son
TelemachusTelemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey...
, back to
AeaeaAeaea or Eëa was a possibly mythological island said to be the home of the sorceress Circe. Odysseus tells Alcinous that he stayed here for a year on his way home to Ithaca....
, where Odysseus is buried and Circe makes the others immortal. Telegonus marries Penelope, and Telemachus marries Circe.
Latin inventions
The 1st-century AD Roman fabulist
HyginusHyginus can refer to:*Pope Hyginus, also a saint, Bishop of Rome about 140*Gaius Julius Hyginus , Roman poet, author of Fabulae, reputed author of Poeticon astronomicon*Hyginus Gromaticus, Roman surveyor...
differs from Proclus in adding a few details. First, it is both Odysseus and Telemachus who engage Telegonus in combat. Hyginus then adds that Odysseus had received an oracle to beware his son. Finally, Hyginus attributes to Telegonus a son named
ItalusItalus was a legendary king of the Sicels or Oenotrians, who were among the earliest inhabitants of Italy. In his Fabularum Liber , Gaius Julius Hyginus recorded the myth that Italus was a son of Penelope and Telegonus....
, the eponymous founder of Italy; and to Telemachus he attributes a son named
LatinusLatinus was a figure in both Greek and Roman mythology.-Greek mythology:In Hesiod's Theogony, Latinus was the son of Odysseus and Circe who ruled the Tyrsenoi, presumably the Etruscans, with his brothers Ardeas and Telegonus...
, whose name was given to the Latin language.
Numerous Latin poets make Telegonus the founder of Praeneste, an important
EtruscanEtruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy and Corsica, residing between the Apennines and the River Tiber, whom the ancient Romans called Etrusci or Tusci...
fortified high place and sacred site.
Dante's invention
In
DanteDANTE is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various National Research and Education Networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's
Divine Comedy, in the eighth
bolgia of the Inferno, Dante and his guide meet Ulisse among the false counsellors, and receive a variant accounting of his death "from the sea" in a five-month journey beyond the
Pillars of HerculesThe Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar...
that has ended in a whirlpool drowning as the mariners approach the mountain of Purgatory. No Greek source was available to Dante, only the Latin recensions of Dictys and Dares.
Among the plethora of
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s based on the myths of Odysseus and those around him, there is but one based on Telegonus,
Carlo Luigi GruaCarlo Luigi Grua was an Italian composer who is best known for his position as Kapellmeister for the Electoral Court at the German city of Mannheim....
's
Telegone (premiered in Düsseldorf, 1697) of which an aria "Dia le mosse a miei contenti" may be noted. Divine intervention, a death and multiple weddings at the end all assorted easily with the conventions of
opera seriaOpera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to ca. 1770. The term itself was rarely used at the time and only became common usage once opera seria became unfashionable, and was viewed as a...
.
Editions
- Online editions (English translation):
- Print editions (Greek):
- A. Bernabé 1987, Poetarum epicorum Graecorum testimonia et fragmenta pt. 1 (Leipzig: Teubner)
- M. Davies 1988, Epicorum Graecorum fragmenta (Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht)
- Print editions (Greek with English translation):
- M.L. West 2003, Greek Epic Fragments (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. It was established on January 13, 1913. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses . The current director...
) ISBN 0-674-99605-4