Telegonus

[ tuh-leg-uh-nuhs ]

noun

, Classical Mythology.

1. a son of Odysseus and Circe who unknowingly killed his father and eventually married Penelope.
2. a son of Proteus and the husband of Io who was killed by Hercules in a wrestling match.

Telegonus

/ tɪˈlɛɡənəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a son of Odysseus and Circe, who sought his father and mistakenly killed him, later marrying Odysseus' widow Penelope

Example Sentences

She found scattered references to Circe across the ancient world, and drew from the plot of the Telegony, an epic preserved only in a short summary, which tells the story of Telegonus, Odysseus and Circe’s son.

From New York Times

But Euphantus, in the fourth book of his Histories, says that Callicrates was a flatterer of Ptolemy, the third king of Egypt, who was so subtle a flatterer that he not only bore an image of Ulysses on his seal, but that he also gave his children the names of Telegonus, and Anticlea.

From Project Gutenberg

About that time, Telegonus, one of his sons by Circe, came to his city to pay unto him his respects; and, as he was striving to enter the palace, there arose a great tumult, the officers of the place refusing him admission; at this moment Ulysses stepped out, and Telegonus not knowing him, ran him through with his lance, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the soothsayer.

From Project Gutenberg

Other incidents are narrated; the final winding-up is that Ulysses is unwittingly slain by Telegonus, his and Circe's son, who appears in Ithaca and takes Telemachus and Penelope to Circe, who makes them immortal.

From Project Gutenberg

The grand Epic Cycle concludes with the strangest set of marriages on record: Telegonus marries Penelope, his step-mother, and Telemachus marries Circe who is also a kind of step-mother.

From Project Gutenberg