Telegonus
Son of Odysseus and Circe who unknowingly killed his own father, fulfilling a prophecy that death would come to Odysseus from the sea.
The Legend of Telegonus
He killed his own father with a spear tipped with a stingray's spine — and neither knew who the other was until it was too late. Telegonus grew up on Aeaea with Circe and sailed to Ithaca to find his father. Landing on the island, he raided for supplies. Odysseus came to defend his kingdom and Telegonus killed him with a spear made from a stingray's barb — death from the sea, as Tiresias had cryptically prophesied. When Telegonus realized what he had done, he brought Odysseus's body back to Aeaea. In the lost Telegony, Telegonus then married Penelope, and Telemachus married Circe — a disturbing set of cross-generational marriages.
Parents
Odysseus, Circe
Symbols
Explore Further
Aegeus
🗡 herotragedy
King of Athens and father of Theseus who threw himself into the sea when he saw black sails, believing his son was dead.
Phocus
🗡 heroAthletics, seal heritage
Son of Aeacus who was murdered by his half-brothers Peleus and Telamon out of jealousy
Cepheus
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Aethiopia who nearly sacrificed his daughter Andromeda to a sea monster
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
Cepheus
🗡 herotragedy
Ethiopian king who chained his own daughter Andromeda to a rock to appease Poseidon's sea monster.
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.
Absyrtus
🗡 herotragedy
Son of King Aeetes of Colchis, murdered and dismembered by his sister Medea to slow their father's pursuit.
Tenes
🗡 heroPurity, Betrayal, Apollo
Prince of Colonae and first ruler of Tenedos, killed by Achilles despite his divine protection by Apollo.
Theseus
🗡 heroheroism
Athenian prince who entered the Cretan Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur with Ariadne's help, then abandoned her on Naxos.
Laius
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes whose attempt to cheat fate led directly to the Oedipus tragedy
Anticlea
🗡 heroNone recorded
Mother of Odysseus who died of grief during his absence and appeared to him in the Underworld
Peleus
🗡 heroMortal who married a goddess
The king of Phthia who wrestled and won the sea-nymph Thetis, fathering Achilles — the greatest warrior of the Trojan War.