FILE Nº 0625 · History · DECLASSIFIED
The “Telegony”, the Sequel to the Odyssey, Should Be Fan Fiction
TL;DR — Someone commented that the “Telegony”, the sequel to the Odyssey, should be fan fiction. I laughed, and I'll explain why they think so.
Someone commented that the “Telegony”, the sequel to the Odyssey, should be fan fiction. I laughed when I read it. Let me tell you why they think so.
The Telegony was not written by Homer. In ancient times some believed it was the work of Cinaethon of Sparta around 800 BC, but some records say that Eugammon of Cyrene, around 600 BC, stole this work from a poet named Musaeus.
Either way, this poem was composed in the Greek Iron Age and so is counted as part of the Epic Cycle as well.
Only two lines of the original poem remain, as it was lost over time, so the whole plot has to rely mainly on the summary of the Telegonus myth in the Chrestomathy of a person named Proclus.
The Telegony tells the story of “Telegonus”, another son of Odysseus, born to the witch Circe. When Telegonus grew up, he set out to find his father until he arrived at the island of Ithaca.
But mistaking it for another island, he began to raid it, which broke the laws of Zeus. Telegonus also stabbed Odysseus, who came out to defend the city, with a spear tipped with a venomous stingray barb, which matched the prophecy that Odysseus’s death would come from the sea.
The father and son only recognised each other when Odysseus was close to death. Telegonus was deeply sorry and grief-stricken over his own actions.
The peak comes in the conclusion after Odysseus dies, because the story goes on to say that Telegonus took Odysseus’s body and invited Penelope and Telemachus to sail back to the island of Aeaea, the island of the witch Circe, to hold Odysseus’s funeral there.
For some reason, Telemachus then married the witch Circe, while Telegonus, who had just killed his own father, married his stepmother Penelope, and it ends with Circe granting immortality to everyone. A happy ending…
P.S. The Wild Chronicles will also be running a tour following The Odyssey, an adventure to the fallen city of Troy, on 13-20 Feb 2027!! If you are interested, message our Line OA and type “Interested in the Odyssey tour”.
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