Editing Telchines

{{Short description|Greek minor gods, original inhabitants of Rhodes}}
In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Telchines''' ({{langx|grc|Τελχῖνες|translit=Telkhines}}) were the original inhabitants of the island of [[Rhodes]] and were known in [[Crete]] and [[Cyprus]].

==Family==
Their parents were either [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]] and [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] or [[Tartarus]] and [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]] or else they were born from the blood of castrated [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]], along with the [[Erinyes]].<ref name=":0">[[Tzetzes]] on ''[[Theogony]]'' 80 with Bacchylides as the authority for Telchines' parentage, being sons of Nemesis and Tartarus.</ref> According to [[Diodorus Siculus]], the Telchines were the offspring of [[Thalassa (mythology)|Thalassa]].<ref name=":1">[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#55.1 5.55.1]</ref> They had flippers instead of hands and the heads of dogs and were known as fish children.<ref name=":2">[[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] on [[Homer]], p. 771</ref> In some accounts, [[Poseidon]] was described as the Telchines' father.<ref name=":3">[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' 14.36 ff</ref>

==Names==
The following individual names are attested in various sources: Damon ([[Demonax (mythology)|Demonax]]); [[Mylas (mythology)|Mylas]];<ref>[[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]] s.v. ''Mylas''</ref> Atabyrius;<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]] s. v. ''Ataburon''</ref> Antaeus ([[Actaeus (mythology)|Actaeus]]), [[Megalesius]], Ormenos ([[Hormenus]]), [[Lycus (mythology)|Lycus]], [[Nicon (mythology)|Nicon]] and [[Mimon (mythology)|Mimon]]''<ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' 7.15 p. 124–125 & 12.51 p. 836–837</ref>'';<ref>Zenob. ''Cent. 5, par. 41''</ref> [[Chryson (mythology)|Chryson]], [[Argyron]] and [[Chalcon]].<ref>Eustathius on Homer, p. 772</ref> Known female Telchines were [[Macelo (mythology)|Makelo]], [[Dexithea (mythology)|Dexithea]] (one of Damon's daughters),<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Aitia'' Fragment 75</ref> [[Halia of Rhodes|Halia]]<ref>Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#55.4 5.55.4]</ref> and probably [[Lysagora]] (the attesting text is severely damaged).<ref name="Bacchylides, Fragment 1">[[Bacchylides]], fr. 1</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+<big>Comparative table of Telchines' names and family</big>
! rowspan="3" |Relation
! rowspan="3" |Name
! colspan="12" |Sources
|-
!Bacch.
!Pindar
!Callim.
!Diod.
!Ovid
!Non.
! rowspan="2" |Hesy.
!Steph.
! colspan="2" |Tzetzes
! rowspan="2" |Eust.
| rowspan="2" |''Unknown''
|-
|''Sch.''
|''Paean''
|''Aitia''
|''Bib. His.''
|''Sch. Ibis''
|''Diony.''
|''Ethnica''
|''on Theo.''
|''Chiliades''
|-
| rowspan="6" |''Parentage''
|Tartarus and Nemesis
|✓
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|✓ or
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|Thalassa
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|✓
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|Poseidon
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|✓
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|Gaia and blood of Uranus
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|✓ or
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|Gaia and Pontus
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|✓
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|Pontus and Thalassa
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| rowspan="16" |''Individual Names''
|Demonax or
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|Damon
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|Lycus
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|✓
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|✓
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|✓
|✓
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|Actaeus or
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|✓
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|Antaeus
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|✓
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|Megalesius
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|✓
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|Hormenius or Ormenos
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|✓
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|Damnameneus
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|Skelmis
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|Mylas
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|Atabyrius
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|✓
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|Mimon
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|✓
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|Nicon
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|Argyron
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|Chalcon
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|Chryson
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| rowspan="5" |''Female Telchines''
|Dexithea or
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|✓
|✓
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|Dexione
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|Halia
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|✓
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|Makelo or Macelo
|✓
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|✓
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|✓
|✓
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|Lysagora
|✓
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|}

== Roles ==

=== Ministers of gods ===
The Telchines were regarded as the cultivators of the soil and ministers of the gods and as such they came from Crete to Cyprus and from thence to Rhodes<ref name=":4">[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' 14.2.7</ref> or they proceeded from Rhodes to Crete and [[Boeotia]].<ref name=":5">[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 9.19.1</ref> Rhodes, and in it the three towns of [[Camirus|Cameirus]], [[Ialysos]], and [[Lindos]] (whence the Telchines are called ''Ialysii''<ref>Ovid, ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 7.365</ref>), which was their principal seat and was named after them Telchinis<ref name=":4" /> ([[Sicyon]] also was called ''Telchinia''<ref>Eustathius ad Homer p. 291</ref>) and by some accounts, their children were highly worshiped as gods in the said three ancient Rhodian towns. The Telchines abandoned their homes because they foresaw that the island would be inundated and thence they scattered in different directions; Lycus went to [[Lycia]], where he built the temple of the [[Lycian Apollo]]. This god had been worshiped by them at Lindos (Apollôn Telchinios) and [[Hera]] at Ialysos and Cameiros (Hêra telchinia);<ref name=":6">Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#55.2 5.55.2]</ref> and [[Athena]] at [[Teumessus]] in Boeotia bore the surname of Telchinia.<ref name=":5" /> [[Nymph]]s also are called after them Telchiniae.

=== Sorcerers and demons ===
The Telchines were also regarded as wizards and envious daemons.<ref>[[Suda]] s.v. ''Baskanoi kai goêtes''</ref><ref>Eustathius ad Homer pp. 941 & 1391</ref> Their very eyes and aspect were said to have been destructive.<ref>Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 7.365</ref> They had it in their power to bring on hail, rain, and snow, and to assume any form they pleased;<ref>Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#55.3 5.55.3]</ref> they further produced a substance poisonous to living things.<ref>Strabo, ''Geographica'' 14.2.7 p. 653</ref><ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' 7.15 p. 126–127</ref> Thus, they were called '''Alastores''' for supervising the ceaseless wanderings of people and '''Palamnaioi''' for pouring the water of Styx with their palms and hands in order to make the fields infertile.<ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' 7.15 p. 128–132</ref> The Telchines were described to have stings and being rough as the echinoid and thus, their names ''teliochinous'' that is “having a poisonous ''telos'' like an echinoid”.<ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' 12.51 p. 839–840</ref>

=== Artists ===
The Telchines were said to have invented useful arts and institutions which were useful to mankind and to have made images of the gods.<ref name=":6" /> Telchines were regarded as excellent metallurgists; various accounts<ref name="ReferenceA">Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#55.5 5.55.5 ff.]</ref> state that they were skilled metal workers in brass and iron and made a [[trident]] for Poseidon and a sickle for [[Cronus]], both ceremonial weapons.<ref>Callimachus, ''Hymn 4 to Delos'' 28 ff</ref> Together with their help and the [[Cyclopes]], the smith god Hephaestus forged the cursed [[necklace of Harmonia]].<ref>[[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' 2.265 ff</ref> Because of their excellent workmanship, the Telchines were maligned by rival workmen and thus received their bad reputation.<ref name=":4" />

This last feature in the character of the Telchines seems to have been the reason of their being put together with the [[Dactyl (mythology)|Idaean Dactyls]] and [[Strabo]] even states that those of the nine Rhodian Telchines who accompanied Rhea to Crete brought up the infant Zeus and were called [[Curetes (tribe)|Curetes]].<ref>Strabo, ''Geographica'' 10.3.19</ref><ref>Compare Höck, ''Creta'' i. p. 345, Welcker, ''Die Aeschylus Trilogie,'' p. 182 & Lobeck, ''Aglaopham'' p. 1182</ref> The Telchines were associated and sometimes confused with the Cyclopes, Dactyls, and Curetes.<ref>Strabo, ''Geographica'' 10.3.7</ref>

== Mythology ==
The Telchines were entrusted by [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] with the upbringing of Poseidon, which they accomplished with the aid of [[Capheira]], one of [[Oceanus]]' daughters.<ref name=":1" /> Another version says that Rhea accompanied them to Crete from Rhodes, where nine of the Telchines, known as the [[Korybantes|Curetes]], were selected to bring up [[Zeus]].<ref>Strabo, ''Geographica'' 10.3.19 p. 653</ref>

However, in other versions of the tale, Rhea, Apollo, and Zeus were described as hostile to the Telchines.<ref>[[Scholia]] ad [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' 1.1141</ref> The gods ([[Zeus]], [[Poseidon]] or [[Apollo]]) eventually killed them because they began to use magic for malignant purposes;<ref name="ReferenceB">Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 7.365 ff</ref> particularly, they produced a mixture of [[Styx|Stygian]] water and sulfur, which killed animals and plants<ref name=":4" /> (according to [[Nonnus]], they did so as revenge for being driven out of Rhodes by the [[Heliadae]]).<ref name=":3" /> Accounts vary on how exactly they were destroyed: by flood<ref name="ReferenceB" /> or Zeus's thunderbolt<ref name="Pindar, Paean 5">[[Pindar]], ''Paean'' 5</ref> or Poseidon's trident<ref name="ReferenceC">Nonnus, ''Dionysiaca'' 18.35</ref> or else Apollo assumed the shape of a wolf to kill them.<ref name=":2" /><ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on [[Virgil|Virgil's]] [[Aeneid]]'' 4.377</ref> They apparently lost the [[Titanomachy]], the battle between the gods and the [[Titan (mythology)|Titans]].

[[Ovid]] in his ''[[Ibis (Ovid)|Ibis]]'' mentions that Makelo, like the other Telchines, was killed with a thunderbolt;<ref>[[Ovid]], ''Ibis'' 475</ref> according to [[Callimachus]]<ref>Callimachus, ''Aitia'' fr. 3.1</ref> and [[Nonnus]],<ref name="ReferenceC" /> however, Makelo was the only one to be spared. According to [[Bacchylides]], the survivor is Dexithea.<ref name="Bacchylides, Fragment 1" /><ref name="Pindar, Paean 5" /> Bacchylides also mentions that Dexithea later had a son [[Euxanthios]] by [[Minos]].<ref>Confirmed by the account of [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 3.1.2</ref> This Euxanthios is also known from [[Pindar]]'s works.<ref name="Pindar, Paean 5" />

In rare accounts, the Telchines were originally the dogs of [[Actaeon]], who were changed into men.<ref name=":2" />

==See also==
*[[Cabeiri]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[John Tzetzes]], ''Book of Histories,'' Book VII-VIII translated by Vasiliki Dogani from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826.  [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html Online version at theio.com]
*[[John Tzetzes]], ''Book of Histories,'' Book XII-XIII translated by Nikolaos Giallousis from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826.  [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html Online version at theio.com]
* [[Maurus Servius Honoratus]], ''In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;'' recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0053 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Nonnus|Nonnus of Panopolis]], ''Dionysiaca'' translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863-1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940.  [https://topostext.org/work/529 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* Nonnus of Panopolis, ''Dionysiaca. 3 Vols.'' W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940-1942. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0485 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Pseudo-Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Statius|Publius Papinius Statius]]'', The Thebaid'' translated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. [https://topostext.org/work/149 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* Publius Papinius Statius, ''The Thebaid. Vol I-II''. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0498 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. [https://topostext.org/work/241 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Strabo]], ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]

{{Greek religion}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ancient tribes in Rhodes]]
[[Category:Children of Gaia]]
[[Category:Children of Poseidon]]
[[Category:Greek mythological witches]]
[[Category:Legendary tribes in classical historiography]]
[[Category:Mythological Rhodians]]
[[Category:Autochthons of classical mythology]]