The Telegony: Rediscovering the Lost Epilogue to Homer's Odyssey

by D.M. Smith

In classical times, the story of the Trojan War was told in a series of eight epic poems known as the Epic Cycle, of which only the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer survive to the present day. The final poem in the sequence was Eugammon of Cyrene’s Telegony—an obscure, largely forgotten post-script to the Odyssey, which told of the hero’s adventures in the years after his return to Ithaca, and his eventual death at the hands of Telegonus, his eponymous son by the goddess Circe.The Telegony is now lost, but fragments of Odysseus’ post-Homeric life are preserved in the works of later authors. Following on from his 2017 reconstruction of the Cypria, editor D. M. Smith provides an exhaustive compilation of these many and varied sources, illustrating how Eugammon’s poem was just one of several competing traditions concerning Odysseus’ eventual fate.Included are excerpts from Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca, Hyginus’ Fabulae, Parthenius’ Erotica Pathemata, and the fictional Trojan War diary of Dictys Cretensis, as well as the writings of Oppian, Plutarch, Servius, and the second-century geographer Pausanias. Smith also presents two medieval interpretations of the Telegonus story by the Middle English poets John Gower and John Lydgate. The Telegony may be gone forever, but in its absence, this comprehensive anthology will at least shed some light on what became of the wily son of Laertes after Homer left off.

Genres: Mythology, Greek Mythology, Classics, Nonfiction

96 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 26, 2020

About the author

D.M. Smith, Australian writer and editor. Born in 1983.

Reviews

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odysseus died .it’s so over

[Ian Varo · Rating 1 out of 5]

No tiene ni pies ni cabeza, qué coño es esta putísima mierda

[Andy Zhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly informative book. It’s a shame this information isn’t more accessible but it satisfied everything I wanted to know coming in. Well, maybe not actually finding the lost poem but I wasn’t expecting that.

After hearing about The Telegony, I was incredibly intrigued by it and it only makes it more of a miracle that The Odyssey survived in the first place. Inevitably, hearing that there was a continuation of The Odyssey made me very interested and also surprised. If there is a sequel to one of the most important stories in western literature, why isn’t it more well-known? What happens anyways after Odysseus spends 20 years trying to come home?

The story of the Telegony itself and the continuations of The Odyssey are pretty disappointing and do not live up to the original story (in my opinion) but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. I mean, reading a sentence-long summary should probably indicate that this is not what anyone would expect out of an Odyssey sequel.

I just wanted to know more about how the story continues in general. I also just wanted to know about the history of this lost story. This book gives a lot of useful info about the many different interpretations and endings of Odysseus’ story. My favorite one is definitely the ridiculous one revolving around something Athena does. Not going to spoil it. Actually I don’t think that narrows it down much. You’ll know when you read it. I think. Maybe.

The book also gives some pretty useful info about how Greek mythology is preserved in general. I also really like the Medieval Retellings and poems. That mostly satisfied the part of me that actually wanted to read the story. Really surprised me though how obscure these retellings seem to be. There doesn’t seem to be much discourse around The Telegony in general or what happens to Odysseus after the Odyssey. Still, the poems were fun to read and felt like reading an Odyssey sequel to me.

This is a great option for those who want to know more about the Epic Cycle. Thanks to the author for making this info more accessible.

Cool beans

[. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Another fable [of Odysseus] is also told. For it is said that when he at last returned to Ithaca he discovered Pan in his home, who was born of Penelope and all of her suitors - as the very name 'Pan' seems to assert."

~

Tele (far) gony (born), refers to Telegonus, the son of Odysseus and Circe, born far from Ithaca and not to know of his father until he sets out on a voyage of his own.

This lost two-book epic was written by one Eugammon of Cyrene around 560 BC as an epilogue to the Odyssey. It concerns itself with Odysseus' efforts to propitiate the wrath of Poseidon, his marriage with Queen Callidice on the mainland of the Peloponnese, and the return of his bastard son, Telegonus, and the tragedy he unwittingly inflicts upon his father.

Alas, much of the happy resolution reached at the end of the Odyssey is here undone... but, nevertheless, there is still a sense that the torch being passed on, and much attention seems to have been given to describing the many cities eventually founded by Odysseus' various offspring.

[Jeff Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the final part of the epic cycle. It relates the travels and death of Odysseus. With the paucity of material available, it's a very difficult task to tell this portion of the story. Smith does not seem to have been very interested in telling the tale. This book seems rushed. It's not gratifying. It gives me the feel of a high school senior doing what little he can in order to simply pass his last remaining English class before graduating. The book is quite thin (86 pages), if you remove the notes its 73 pages broken into 4 sections. Sections 3 and 4 are simply medieval poems that smith simply stuck into the text. Those poems don't shed any additional light on the events and so Smith basically told the story of Odysseus in about 30 pages.

[Rebecca Augustine · Rating 4 out of 5]

What DID Happen After the Odyssey?

Yes, we all know that the virtuous women of Troy got "short-shrift." Unfortunately, innocent victims of war -- even mythical ones -- suffer and die. However, what happened with the Greek women who "kept the home fires burning" for so long? Especially, what came of the paragon, Penelope, and the not-so-bad sorceress, Circe, and Odysseus's other amours and their possible offspring? If you think that the Odyssey left you a cliffhanger, then you might want to have a look at "The Telegony," named after the son Odysseus had through Circe.

[Siem Lowis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapter one and two were great, exactly what I expected from this book. Chapter three wasn't very readable (perhaps just not my taste?). Chapter four was alright.

Maybe I shouldn't compare, but I liked the author's other book (The Cypria) a lot more.
What I liked from the other book is that it really reas like a reconstruction, whereas this one didn't really. I would have probably left out the medieval & later sources

[Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant explanation of the Telegony, well thought out and easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the classics.

[Matt Vigneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

More fragmentary relative to Homeric works. Some valuable stories that were focused on in the medieval writings on Troy and Odysseus.