Is any, all, or none of Eugamon’s story in the Telegony true? How does it affect your view of Odysseus as a hero?
Posted by: plarson54 | May 24, 2010
The Telegony – truth or trash?
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Is any, all, or none of Eugamon’s story in the Telegony true? How does it affect your view of Odysseus as a hero?
Posted in Uncategorized
aaronferber
adamsonjake
brownm65
cartwrighta
cjcooper
garridoo
hermanb123
krasners95
maggiemf
morganl1995
plarson54
salvanov1
shahk
shanellej
stanleys95
sternsam
MFS English 9 2010 
I feel that the Telegony story could be very true. If you look at what Odysseus did when he was not with Penelope. He was having affair and fun with Circe and Calypso. It would make sense that he left her for another person, and himself. It seems a lot of heroes leave their wives for someone younger and are punished. Look at Jason for instance, he left his wife Medea and was punished by the gods. So was Odysseus, his son was somewhat like an instrument of the gods. He was killed by accident too; the son was probably sad. I still see Odysseus as a hero. We still view Jason as a hero even though he broke an oath. He has the characteristics of an hero. As much as we don’t like Jason or Odysseus they are still heroes. Maybe Jason didn’t do amazing feats, but Odysseus definitely did. Just with some bad mistakes.
By: krasners95 on May 25, 2010
at 12:50 am
I’m not sure. I think that it could be true. I agree with what Scott said about Odysseus not being very good when he was away from Penelope. So if you look at it like that, it could be true. However, Penelope does not seem like the kind of person who would marry her son-in-law, so that part does not seem very true. If the Telegony is true, then Odysseus was not a very nice person. He may still be a hero, and accomplish heroic deeds, but he is not a hero with his family or personal life.
By: lianahershey on May 25, 2010
at 7:26 pm
I think the Telegony sounds very much like the rest of Odysseus’s adventures, and none of what he does in the Telegony makes him any less of a hero by Greek standards. The part I found to make him less heroic was when he was killed by his son, Telegono. The fact that Odysseus survived such and ordeal and was one of the greatest Greek heroes makes the fact that little attention was paid to his death odd. If anything of the story of the Telegony is false, it’s how Odysseus died and what happened afterward. I sincerely doubt that Telemachus would marry Circe after reading the description of her in Greek myths. It also seems unlikely that Penelope would marry her stepson, Telegono.
By: maggiemf on May 25, 2010
at 8:37 pm
I agree with Maggie in that it does look the rest of Odysseus’s life but parts of it don’t seem true. Telegono marrying Penelope and Circe marrying Telemachus? it doesn’t seem that likely and also Telegono killing Odysseus, it doesn’t seem likely. The dude has been to underworld and back, killed all the people that were trying to marry his wife, and seen all his crew die then some kid comes and kills him. it does NOT seem likely.
By: chuchukachoo on May 25, 2010
at 9:15 pm
Judging by Odysseus’ moral character and society in general back then, the Telegony could very well be true. No one has full proof that it did happen, but just going by his previous adventures, the Telegony sounds accurate. I agree with Maggie because this story did not make him less of a hero in Greek society because people accpeted that. It may be hard for us to comprehend and it completely changes my view of him being a great hero, but it’s important to see it in their perspective. For me personally, this story lowered my view of Odysseus being a hero. He may be strong and brave, but that’s very few of the characteristics that defines a hero for my standards. I thought Penelope and Odysseus were madly in love and this story proves otherwise. It makes me question if there was real love in Greek society at all. But to the Greeks, being brave and strong is the main composition of a hero. Adultery was casual and rarely looked at because it was deeply rooted in society as acceptable. Addressing Penelope marrying Telegono, it seems a little far fetched, but maybe Penelope had an ulterior motive marrying Telegono. I doubt she was really in love with the son of her ex husband.
By: morganl1995 on May 25, 2010
at 9:30 pm
I think that the Telegony could very well be true, it’s greek mythology anyhting can happen. Although I do not think that all of it is true because some things do not fit into how Odysseus, Telemachus, especially Peneolope would usually act. The part that seems the least true is about Penelope marrying her stepson, Telegono. Partly because she was away from her husband for many years, and if she were to get remarried, the last person I would expect would be her stepson. I think that some of the Telegony could be true, but some I believe is not.
By: eiffesb on May 25, 2010
at 9:30 pm
I agree with Brett, I think parts of it are true, but other parts I do not think are true based on Odysseus’s character. I can believe however, that Odysseus leaves Penelope because he did cheat on her while on his journey. I do not think however, that Penelope would remarry to Telegono because that is not exactly her character. She is deeply in love with Odysseus and I do think that she is capable of loving someone else because on Odysseus’s long journey, she stayed true to him. She is always very confident so even if Odysseus left her, she would still have hope that he would come back. Also, I think that Telemachus would not marry his “stepmom”. Telemachus is very true to his family especially his father and mother so I do not think he would marry anyone that is related to him. I think that the Telegony affects Odysseus as a hero because the telegony does not show Odysseus in such a hero aspect. The telegono says he has physical heroism, but not inner heroism.
By: emilypurcell on May 25, 2010
at 10:07 pm
I believe that parts of the telegony are true, whereas other parts probably aren’t because they don’t make that much sense or go along with the characters and the story. I believe that Odysseus would probably leave Penelope because everyone was after him because he had just killed 100 men and because he had cheated on Penelope before. I think that Penelope would remarry after Odysseus left her, because she said in the story that she was going to remarry after Odysseus had been gone for a long enough time, but I don’t think she would marry her stepson because I don’t think she would do that and that doesn’t really make any sense. So, there are some parts of the story that I agree with and believe could have happened whereas other parts I don’t entirely agree with .
By: weissr on May 25, 2010
at 10:44 pm
I believe that parts of the Telegony are true and others don’t really make sense and seem a little stretched. I believe that part of the Telegony that says that Odysseus went off the Thesportia and married Queen Calladice and had a son. The other parts about Telegono coming back and killing Odysseus without knowing it was him and the part saying that Circe married Telemachus and Penelope married Telegono is really stretched and don’t really make sense. This really doesn’t change how I feel about Odysseus as a hero because like we said in class, just because you cheat on your wife doesn’t make you less of a hero during these times because of the fact that it is not looked down upon if you are a man.
By: kosteka on May 25, 2010
at 11:04 pm
Some parts of the telegony, I think, are true. What we saw of Odysseus, when it came to Penelope, was when he was away from her he did some things with Circe and Calypso that now-a-days would be considered unfaithful. So when he leaves her and has a kid with the queen, I can see that happening. The part that seems far from the truth is Penelope marrying her step son, Telegono. Cheating, and having more than one wife was accepted back then, so maybe marrying your step son was too, I don’t know. Odysseus will always be a hero in the physical sense, but if this was all true than he was strong and what not but didn’t have a good family life and wasn’t a “hero” when it came to them.
By: jackiezausner on May 25, 2010
at 11:38 pm
i think some of the telegony is true, but i do not think all of it is true. I think up to the part where odesseus gets killed by his son is true but then after that i just think was made up. This doesnt change my view of odesseus. i think he is still considered a hero even if it is true, because this is just a little thing in his life compared to all the other great things he has done to show favor to the gods.
By: cjcooper on May 25, 2010
at 11:48 pm
I have a feeling that some of the Telegony is true, but through the years people might have added to it in order to make it more interesting. Also, I’m a little skeptical because the story is told in fragments and we might be missing a part. Overall, I still think that Odysseus is heroic and a little arrogant.
By: stanleys95 on May 26, 2010
at 12:42 am
I think the Telegony could possibly be true because since he did sleep with Circe, he could very well have encountered one his son and have not known it. Also I think that Odysseus had alot of advenrures that weren’t all accounted for so this could be one of them that most people don’t know about.
By: brownm65 on May 26, 2010
at 1:39 am
Well, it was definitely a shock to most of us. But as I thought about it , I did begin to realize that some of Telegony could have been true. A lot of it I think is centered around Odysseus’ character. He was arrogant at times and nevertheless did cheat on Penelope throughout his journey back to Ithaca. I also agree that even though he was considered a hero, his personal flaws were apparent, and this story just sheds more light on that. However the marriage between Circe and Telemachus and Telegono marrying Penelope is definitely questionable. My view of Odysseus as a hero hasn’t changed, but my view of his decisions did, because it is clear that made some mistakes.
By: salvanov1 on May 26, 2010
at 1:48 am
The Telegony is probably very true. I was extremely shocked as I read it. Odysseus had already had affairs before returning home, but his main interest was to get home(to Penelope). I thought that was alright i guess, but then him leaving Penelope after killing the suitors was just ridiculous. He did not seem like a hero at all, especially when he married Queen Callidice and then after she died went back to Penelope. He just seemed like a regular man doing things driven by “needs”. Then, haha, it was just funny to see that he was killed by his son that he had with the witch Circe. Then it gets even better, his wife Penelope marries his son (Telegono) and the witch gets married with his son(Telemachaus). It does make Odysseus sort of look like a coward maybe? But, it could just not mean anything. He had cheated on his wife when he was not home so why does it make it worse that he did it this time -it is sort of expected from him.
By: garridoo on May 26, 2010
at 2:51 am
I think that Odysseus is still a sterotypical hero, beacuse he is strong and brave, however his morals are not that good. Although his main goal was to get home to Penelope, he still had various affairs before he went home to her, and she had to stay faithful to him after all those years and being bombarded with suitors. The telegony is very odd. It is certainly suprising that there as all that intermarrying. I think the part about how Odeysseus dies is true, but the rest is probably made up. That generally seems to happen over the years, people add onto stories to make them interesting.
By: shahk95 on May 26, 2010
at 12:03 pm
I think that there is a possibility that the Telegony is true. It certainly isn’t a very happy ending to the story, but it is a more realistic one. Where in the original story, Odysseus arrives and kills all the suitors, and then he lives on peacefully. In reality, killing 100 men does have its consequences. Him leaving Penelope was to ensure her safety and his own safety. It would also make sense for a now powerless king to seek power, so marrying Callidice, a queen, would have been a good idea. However, after going through all that he went through, I don’t think he would have just been killed by Telegono.
By: levinea on May 26, 2010
at 5:36 pm
I think this question is the same as asking me, “Greek mythology: Truth or Trash?” These stores (fragments or 20 pages worth) can all be combined to make a facinating story to be passed down for ages. So why couldn’t The Telegony be truth (in the mythological world)? From reading The Telegony, it would seem that these fragments, if fitted with the story from Hamilton (from Euripides and Illaid), match any kinds of questions in between. Think about it: Athena could have very well told Telegono Odysseus was his father (she starts up problems and yaps her mouth all the time). Penelope could have also married Telegono with Odysseus finally dead and all the suitors well dead. The only part that does seem a bit out of sorts is the part where
Odysseus kills the suitors (The Telegony left out that Telemachus did help with that, too), there was a period of time before Penelope saw him.
Timing of Telegony and the Adventure of Odysseus looked at from a different perspective can appear partially synchronized.
By: shanellej on May 26, 2010
at 8:57 pm
In my opinion the telegony is complete trash. Odysseus would have noticed that 5 years had passed rather than just 5 days. Circe could not have gotten pregnant and had a baby 5 times and still have Odysseus think thst just five days have passed. In my opinion he also probobly would not have gone home if he had had five bastard children.
By: adamsonjake on May 26, 2010
at 9:44 pm
I think that the telegony could hold some water but overall it seems hard to be true. Odysseus was one of the most famous greek heros that evaded death numerous times. He defeted monsters and even godly biengs. This is why I can’t simply believe that he was killed by his own son and not by the gods themselves. While I think that the telegony does not acuratly represent his death, I do think it is possible that Odysseus was involved in affairs with more then one women. I believe that his love life is the only aspect of the telegony that corresponds with the famous adventures of Odysseus.
By: eharkaway95 on May 27, 2010
at 3:13 pm
I think that the telegony might have been several separated stories that eventually coalesced into one story about one man, Odysseus. Being that the authors are different it might have just been several people’s stories that, through people traveling, were dispersed and changed, modified over and over until people came together and called it the telegony.
By: aaronferber on May 27, 2010
at 8:44 pm
I think that the Telegony definitley could be true, and it doesn’t come as that much of a surprise to me. It is clear through the text and movies that people during this time including the gods cheated on their partners or had children with multiple people. But, the thing that I think is questionable is the way that he ended up dying. And even though he made these desicions during his lifetime, I still believe that he is heroic (not necessarily moral, though).
By: cartwrighta on May 28, 2010
at 2:25 pm
I think the Telegony could possibly be true. Odysseus cheated on Penelope with Circe and Callypso. His cheating was bound to catch up with him some day. As a hero it does affect my view of him because his affairs with Circe and Callypso were not right, and Penelope waited 20 years for him and held off over 100 suitors. Also after he finally returned to Penelope, he leaves AGAIN and eventually marries another women even though he is still married to Peneloope and has a kid with her. Then he gets killed by his illegitimate son. Despite this he is still considered a hero because of the heroic things that he did. Like Ashleigh said in the post above, I still consider him to be a hero but I don’t think he was very moral. With the Telegony there are different versions of how things turned out, so it seems as though the Telegony is based on the opinions of the people who were involved in writing it. Some people might not have liked Odysseus so that is why the Telegony is like this. Some of the things in the Telegony seem kind of outlandish so some stuff could not be true and some stuff could be true. I guess it really depends on an individual’s opinion.
By: brownl94 on May 31, 2010
at 5:02 pm
I feel that the stories are more of a biased opinion of a much broader story. Maybe something happened and they turned it into a way different story. It is sort of like that game where you tell someone something and they tell the person to their left and by the end it is a completely different story. This is what the telegony is like to me. Different people with different opinions will create the same basis of the story but a new story in its own.
By: claybalter on June 1, 2010
at 3:01 am