Telemachus

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Slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus, Campanian red-figure bell-krater, ca. 330 BC, Louvre (CA 7124)

Telemachus departing from Nestor, painting by Henry Howard (1769–1847)

This article is about the figure in greek mythology. For the Christian saint, see Saint Telemachus, and for the tartaruchi, see Temeluchus. For the South African cricketer, see Roger Telemachus.

Telemachus (also transliterated as Telemachos or Telémakhos from Greek Τηλέμαχος; literally, "far-away fighter")^[1] is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey. The first four books in particular focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father; they are, therefore, traditionally accorded the collective title the Telemachy.

[edit] In the Telegony

The Telegony was a short 2-book epic poem recounting the life and death of Odysseus after the events of the Odyssey. In this mythological postscript, Odysseus is accidentally killed by Telegonus, his unknown son by the goddess Circe. After Odysseus' death Telemachus returns to Aeaea with Telegonus and Penelope, and there marries Circe.

[edit] In later classical authors

• In The Contest of Homer and Hesiod, it is alleged that the Roman Emperor Hadrian asked the Delphic Oracle about Homer's birthplace and parentage. The Oracle replied that Homer came from Ithaca, and that Telemachus was his father by Epicasta, daughter of Nestor. ^[2]
• According to Aristotle and Dictys of Crete, Telemachus married Nausicaa, King Alcinous' daughter, and fathered a son named Perseptolis or Ptoliporthus.

[edit] Other appearances

• In The Adventures of Krytolandros, Telemachus also marries Nausicaa, but has a son named Krytolandros who goes on a journey to learn of Odysseus' wanderings.
• Telemachus is the subject of François Fénelon's The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses (1699), a scathing attack on the monarchy of France.
• In James Joyce's Ulysses, Stephen Dedalus is the analogue of Telemachus.
• In Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's The Illuminatus! Trilogy the fictional book Telemachus Sneezed is described which is a parody of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

• In the French-Japanese anime Ulysses 31, which adapts Homer's Odyssey in a futuristic setting, Telemachus appears as a 12 year old boy, son of Ulysses. He is always followed by his robot-friend Nono and an alien girl called Themis (renamed Yumi in the English dub).

[edit] Notes