Telegony
| Original Title: | Τηλεγόνεια |
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| Central Theme: | |
| Synopsis: | Odysseus' voyage to Thesprotia and return to Ithaca, and death at the hands of an illegitimate son Telegonus (Wikipedia) |
| Series: | The Trojan Cycle |
| Preceded by: | The Odyssey |
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γέρων τε ὢν Ὀδυσσεὺς —The Telegony[1]
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The eight and final installment in The Trojan Cycle, a lost work.
At this point, we've pretty much wrapped up everything regarding the actual Trojan War. The Telegony (Τηλεγόνεια) follows The Odyssey and deals with the legends about the end of Odysseus's life. It was likely composed in the sixth century BC.
The epic begins where The Odyssey left off, and starts with the suitors being buried by their families. After all those years of making his way back home, you would think that Odysseus would want to settle down in Ithaca again, set his kingdom in order, that sort of thing. He faked insanity to try to get out of leaving, after all!
Nope. He makes a few sacrifices and inspects his herds, then he takes off to the land of the Thesprotians. Admittedly, he's trying to fulfill a prophecy Tiresias made in The Odyssey in order to appease Poseidon.
The prophecy, however, did not require that he marry Callidice, the Thesprotian queen.
So Odysseus stays in Thesprotia, has a son, and fights a war there. He leads the Thesprotian forces against the Bryges, but his forces are turned back by Ares until Athena combats the war god. The two are calmed by Apollo.
Who knows what Penelope is up to during all this. Because Odysseus is, after all, in Thesprotia for so long that when Callidice dies and he returns to Ithaca, his son, Polypoites, is old enough to rule the kingdom.
Meanwhile, yet another child of Odysseus exists. Telegonus is the child of the warrior and Circe, and is raised by his mother until he goes out in search of his father. The boy comes to Ithaca but is unaware of where he is, and begins attacking the island.
Odysseus comes out to defend Ithaca and the two fight, neither aware of their relation. Eventually Telegonus slays his father, and only afterwards does he realise his mistake. The boy then brings Odysseus's body, Penelope, and Telemachus to Circe.
Her solution is to make Penelope and Telemachus immortal. The enchantress then marries Telemachus while Telegonus marries Penelope. And everyone lives happily ever after. Except Odysseus.
Ancient fragments on the Telegony, including Proclus's summary, are available in English here
- Abdicate the Throne: Odysseus leaves Thesprotia to Polypoites after the queen dies. Admittedly, he just goes right back to being king in Ithaca.
- A Man Is Not a Virgin: Odysseus.
- Antagonist Title: Telegonus could be considered an antagonist of sorts, as he ends up killing his father.
- Blade on a Stick: Telegonus's weapon... except it's a sting ray barb, not just a blade.
- Directionless Driver: Telegonus apparently has no idea where he's going.
- Divine Parentage: Telegonus, the son of Circe.
- Double Standard
- Heroic Bastard: The epic is named for Telegonus, after all.
- Immortality: Telemachus and Penelope receive it.
- I Will Wait for You: We can only assume this is what Penelope did as Odysseus disappeared for however many years again.
- Murder by Mistake: Telegonus didn't know the island he was plundering was his father's, after all! It was all just a huge misunderstanding.
- Oedipus Complex: Telegonus does end up killing his father, after all.
- Plunder: What Telegonus is up to when he's not actively looking for his father. This doesn't end well.
- Romancing the Widow: Telegonus also marries his father's wife.
- Self-Made Orphan: Accidentally.
- Tangled Family Tree: By the end of the epic, Telegonus and Telemachus are both each other's stepfathers and stepsons...
- And Circe and Penelope are both each other's mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law, stepmothers and stepdaughters.
- Tell Me About My Father: What sets Telegonus off in search of Odysseus in the first place.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Odysseus was fated to die a mild death from the sea... Telegonus sails in and kills him with a sting ray spear. It's not exactly mild, though...
- The prophecy in question could just as easily be translated as away from the sea. It also says he will die at an old age, surrounded by a prosperous people, which can't really be said about dying from a stingray spear on the beach. This, along with all the other contradictory details, has led quite a few scholars (both ancient and modern) to see the Telegony as a case of Adaptation Decay.
- Sophocles's
- Odysseus Acanthoplex, a lost play where Odysseus tries to avert fate by banishing Telemachus after learning he would be killed by his son. It doesn't work.
- ↑ And Odysseus, being an old man, / ate heartily of abundant meat and sweet wine.