#telegony

Patroclus is trans

Agamemnon is trans

Menelaus is trans

Odysseus is trans

Diomedes is trans

Hector is trans

Paris is trans

Cassandra is trans

Helen is trans

Penelope is trans

Andromache is trans

Idomeneus is trans

Greater Ajax is trans

Lesser Ajax is trans

Hecuba is trans

Priam is trans

Aeneas is trans

Memnon is trans

Machaon is trans

Palamedes is trans

penthesilea is trans

Teucer is trans

Clytemnestra is trans

Orestes is trans

Electra is trans

Iphigenia is trans

Sarpedon is trans

Glaucus is trans

Polyxena is trans

Helenus is trans

Telemachus is trans

Neoptolemus is trans

Philoctetes is trans

Briseis is trans

Chryseis is trans

Tecmessa is trans

Hermione is trans

Peisistratus is trans

Antilochus is trans

Deidamia is trans

Troilus is trans

Telegonus is trans

Sthenelus is trans

Deiphobus is trans

Polydamas is trans

Antenor is trans

Creusa is trans

Iliona is trans

Polymester is trans

Dido is trans

Oenone is trans

Aegiale is trans

Alcinous is trans

Nausicaa is trans

pylades is trans

Lavinia is trans

The Telegony is called an unnecessary sequel to The Odyssey for good reasons.

The Odyssey ends with Odysseus returning home, reuniting with his family, and restoring order. It feels complete as it's one of the rare times a Greek hero gets something close to a happy ending.

But then The Telegony reveals that Odysseus had a son with Circe, Telegonus, who arrives and unknowingly kills him. After that, Circe turns Telemachus and Penelope immortal, marries Telemachus, and Telegonus marries Penelope.

I don't blame anyone for seeing it as bad fanfic that undoes the perfect ending Homer gave us.

But isn't that perfect when looking at Odysseus's story? It's one filled with actions that never stayed buries.

He blinded Polyphemus, so Poseidon spent years punishing him for it.

He survived Troy, but lost ten years in war and another ten years trying to get home.

The Phaeacians help him, and their ship is turned to stone for it.

Hell, just his whole crew dying for a mix of his and their stupidity.

His life is defined by consequences coming back to bite him, and Telegonus fits that pattern.

He isn't some random addition. He's the result of Odysseus's time with Circe, and that detour in his journey that felt like a pause didn't stay behind when he left.

It followed him, and it killed him.

And the most important thing to remember is how little of The Telegony we actually have.

What survives is a summary: Odysseus travels again, marries again, fights another war, returns home, dies, and then everyone gets paired off.

There’s no dialogue or insight that goes beyond these events.

How's his marriage with Penelope? Does she know the full story about Circe? How does she react to Ody's death and the identity of his killer?

How does Telemachus feel when meeting a half-brother who killed their father? Was Telegonus regretful when he found out the truth?

Were the marriages immediate or did they happen much later? Were they arranged, or did the pairs fall in love? What's Circe's role in all of this?

We just don't know.

Without any context, we're judging a skeleton and assuming the missing flesh was ugly.

Greek epics, just epics in general, rely heavily on characterization, speeches, emotional reactions—practically everything we don't have.

And in the end, the man of twists and turns wasn't brought down by a god or monster, but by someone from his past he never saw coming.

But then there's Tiresias' prophecy, that he would die gently of old age, far from the sea.

It can still happen. Odysseus could have still lived a full life, and perhaps he even reconciled with Telegonus to ensure no more family blood to be spilled.

And while the full poem itself didn't survive, accounts and summaries of the Telegony existed as early as the second century AD. Meaning Telegonus was an accepted part of Odysseus' story for years contemporarily.

Oh the Winnowing Oar! Yeah! ^_^

This is one of the most interesting asks I am getting in a while but sadly I cannot cook something up either!

Most of the sources seem to state that he has to travel until he fulfills his dues but unfortunately is not clear how long that is (as opposed to other examples like for instance Heracles's journey. Most sources seem to mention it took quite some time (which makes sense given that Odysseus had to travel on foot in the mountains, by most accounts, of Thesprotia till he found the most remote place in the area that never saw or had any contact with the sea and get to build the temple to Poseidon there. And boy the mounts of Thesprotia are no joke! Hahaha

(this is mount Souli for instance in Thesprotia)