Telegonus Character Analysis in Circe

Telegonus is Circe’s and Odysseus’s son, although Odysseus never learns of his existence. Telegonus’s name means “far away,” which represents how Circe has him far away from everyone else and tries to keep him for herself alone. Although she never explicitly states why she decides to have a child, she seems to be inspired by both Daedalus’s and Odysseus’s affection for their sons (although, when Odysseus actually meets his son Telemachus as an adult, the love evaporates quickly when he sees that his son is not like him). It is also implied that Circe decides to have a child to alleviate her loneliness while in exile and to give her a purpose beyond mere survival. When Telegonus is born, Circe loves him deeply, and also knows that, because of her boundless love for him, he is “the thing the gods could use against [her].” Her fear of the gods’ involvement is almost immediately realized when Athena starts trying to kill Telegonus, because she knows that he will grow up to kill Odysseus. Circe is ignorant of this prophecy and does everything in her power to keep her son alive, including creating a protective barrier around the island. But Telegonus grows up restless and always wanting to leave the island. Circe wants to keep him with her on Aiaia forever, but she also wants him to have a happy life, one where he can feel free as she never felt when living with Helios. Telemachus loves stories of heroism and virtue, and he is childishly sure that Odysseus, his father, is a hero. He leaves Aiaia to meet his father, but the prophecy comes true, and he accidentally kills Odysseus with his spear tipped with Trygon’s poison tail. He is consumed with guilt, but it lessens over time as he gets closer to his half-brother Telemachus and Telemachus’s mother Penelope, who tell him of Odysseus’s true nature. Telegonus eventually leaves Aiaia for good when Athena offers him the opportunity to create an empire in the west.

Telegonus Quotes in Circe

The Circe quotes below are all either spoken by Telegonus or refer to Telegonus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Power, Fear, and Self-Preservation Theme Icon

“Why can you not be more peaceful?” I whispered. “Why must it be so hard?”

As if in answer, a vision of my father’s halls drifted up: the sterile earth floor, the black gleam of obsidian […] I had laid quiet and still, but I remembered the ravening hunger that was in me always: to climb into my father’s lap, to rise and run and shout, snatch the draughts from the board and batter them against the walls […] shake [Helios] for every secret, as fruits are shaken from a tree. But if I had done even one of those things there would have been no mercy. He would have burnt me down to ash […]

Why should [Telegonus] be peaceful? I never was, nor his father either, when I knew him. The difference was that he was not afraid to be burnt.

Related Characters: Circe (speaker), Telegonus, Helios

Page Number and Citation: 258

Explanation and Analysis:

How would you know? I wanted to say. Often those men in most need hate most to be grateful, and will strike at you just to feel whole again.

Related Characters: Circe (speaker), Telegonus

Page Number and Citation: 263

Explanation and Analysis:

An owl passed its wings over my head. I heard the sound of scuffling brush, the beak snap, A mouse had died for its carelessness. I was glad Telemachus would not know of those words between me and his father. At the time I had been boasting, showing off my ruthlessness. I had felt untouchable, filled with teeth and power. I scarcely remembered what that was like.

Related Characters: Circe (speaker), Telemachus, Odysseus, Athena, Telegonus

Page Number and Citation: 310

Explanation and Analysis:

“When I was young, I overheard our palace surgeon talking. He said that the medicines he sold were only for show. Most hurts heal by themselves, he said, if you give them enough time […] I took it for a philosophy. I have always been good at waiting, you see. I outlasted the war and the suitors. I outlasted Odysseus’s travels. I told myself that if I were patient enough, I could outlast his restlessness and Athena too […] And while I sat, Telemachus bore his father’s rage year after year. He suffered while I turned my eyes away […] But this world does have true medicines. You are proof of that. You walked the depths for your son. You defied the gods. I think of all the years of my life I wasted on that little man’s boast. I have paid for it, that is only justice, but I have made Telemachus pay as well.”

Related Characters: Penelope (speaker), Odysseus, Athena, Telemachus, Circe, Telegonus

Page Number and Citation: 329-330

Explanation and Analysis:

Telegonus Character Timeline in Circe

The timeline below shows where the character Telegonus appears in Circe. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Change, Initiative, and the Self Theme Icon

...she holds him close, telling him that they “do not need anyone.” She names him Telegonus. (full context)

Mortality, Fragility, and Fulfillment Theme Icon

Motherhood is like a battle for Circe. Telegonus incessantly screams for her, needing food, a new diaper, or sleep. Once, while trying to... (full context)

Telegonus grows and his screaming ceases. But as he learns to sit, grab, and crawl, Circe... (full context)

That night, after surrounding a sleeping Telegonus with her protective wolves and lions, Circe demands that the god responsible for the attacks... (full context)

Circe trembles, terrified, but refuses. Athena commands again that Circe give her Telegonus, promising that the child’s death will be quick. Knowing that “there [is] no mercy among... (full context)

Circe asks why Athena so desperately wants Telegonus dead, but the Olympian refuses to give her an answer. Her voice softening, Athena tells... (full context)

...hand over her child. Instantly, Athena’s gentle manner evaporates. She snarls that she will kill Telegonus one day, and that Circe cannot always protect her son. Athena disappears as Circe calls... (full context)

Circe is overwhelmed with terror for what will happen to Telegonus. She wracks her brain to think of some spell to protect him, keeping the boy... (full context)

...which Athena will be unable to penetrate. The other spell binds the whole island to Telegonus, so that it—and all the creatures and plants on it—will protect the boy if he... (full context)

...do whatever it takes to protect her son. Feeling relieved at last, she joyfully tells Telegonus that they are safe at last. (full context)

Looking back, Circe calls herself a fool. Telegonus is an impossibly restless child, and Circe spends her days trying to catch and calm... (full context)

Circe gives Telegonus the potion and then, as he continues screaming, says the word of power. He drops... (full context)

That night, when Telegonus is asleep, Circe desperately asks the slumbering boy why he is so wild. At her... (full context)

Years pass, and at last, Telegonus calms. He is a sweet boy, happiest when he is by the sea. As he... (full context)

One evening, Circe decides to answer Telegonus’s questions about his father. Although he has asked many times before, it is not until... (full context)

The few times that Circe does tell a tale in all its brutality, Telegonus, upset, tells her that she must have gotten it wrong, believing that Odysseus must be... (full context)

One day in fall, Telegonus spots a floundering ship near their island. He begs Circe to lift the spell so... (full context)

...When the men come, she wants nothing more than to cast them out—but, aware of Telegonus’s silent presence in the other room, she welcomes them to her hall. After the men... (full context)

At that moment, Telegonus, who is 15 at the time, steps into the hall. He confidently announces that they... (full context)

For the following months after the boat’s departure, Telegonus spends most of his time by the beach and away from Circe, at one point... (full context)

Telegonus reveals his intention to sail to Ithaca to meet Odysseus. He informs Circe that Hermes... (full context)

Fury flooding through her, Circe sharply tells Telegonus that he cannot be sure that Odysseus, let alone Telemachus, will welcome him—he is a... (full context)

That night, Telegonus prepares to sleep outside to show his defiance. On his way out, Circe tells him... (full context)

Thinking of Telegonus’s childhood, Circe sees that her wish for him to grow up unafraid has come true.... (full context)

The last thing to complete before Telegonus leaves is a task that Circe saves for herself. Stepping into the ocean, she uses... (full context)

...inwardly shrivels at the thought of eternal pain, but she forces herself to think of Telegonus. She tells Trygon that she agrees to his conditions. She walks across the ocean floor... (full context)

When Circe returns to Aiaia, she swaps the blade on Telegonus’s spear with the poisonous stinger, over which she places a moly-infused sheath. When she tells... (full context)

Circe anxiously paces the shore of Aiaia, wondering all the while where Telegonus is. She wants to believe that his meeting with Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus will go... (full context)

One night, Telegonus’s favorite wolf Arcturos wakes Circe with her howling. Looking out to the horizon, Circe sees... (full context)

Telegonus weeps, mourning the death of his father. Circe also grieves, thinking of her time with... (full context)

Circe and Telegonus lead Penelope and Telemachus up from the beach to the house, where Circe feeds them.... (full context)

...pulsing through her. When she tells him that she knows that he plans to kill Telegonus to avenge Odysseus, Telemachus contradicts her, saying that he doesn’t blame her son. Odysseus had... (full context)

...Telemachus, sick of his father’s wrath and his mother’s inaction, moved to the countryside. Then Telegonus came, and Odysseus died. (full context)

...up her mind about Penelope. Circe returns to the house for breakfast, where she meets Telegonus, still grey with grief. She tells him that she agrees that Telemachus is not dangerous... (full context)

Penelope eyes the spear on the wall and mentions that Telegonus told her and Telemachus of both the spear with Trygon’s tail and of the many... (full context)

Penelope is a masterful weaver. When Telemachus and Telegonus enter, Telegonus rushes to the loom to praise her skill. Circe watches Telemachus stiffen and... (full context)

That evening, after Penelope and Telegonus go to bed, Telemachus asks Circe to tell him whatever stories of Odysseus she has.... (full context)

At breakfast the next day, Circe sends Telegonus and Telemachus to fix the sty. Once alone with Penelope, Circe demands to know which... (full context)

That afternoon, Penelope offers to teach Telegonus to swim, an opportunity that thrills him. When Telemachus and Circe are alone, he approaches... (full context)

After dinner, Telemachus amuses Telegonus by telling him tales of various heros. Circe admires Telemachus’s face and the serious way... (full context)

Telegonus pushes her to tell more of her past, asking whether she knows anything of the... (full context)

...and converse together, and each afternoon Circe and Telemachus work on a household chore. Even Telegonus’s mood improves, especially after Circe tells him of Odysseus’s violent rage. The only tension that... (full context)

...Circe wonders aloud whether it is hard for him to spend so much time with Telegonus, when he so closely resembles Odysseus. Telemachus laughs, telling her that Telegonus is blessed to... (full context)

...spells. Circe rejects the command, until Hermes communicates that Athena has sworn not to harm Telegonus. Hearing this, Circe relents, but she tells Hermes that Athena will have to wait until... (full context)

As Penelope takes Telemachus to the beach to tell him of Athena’s plan, Telegonus asks Circe why she can’t just use moly to stop the protective spell. When Circe... (full context)

...Aiaia and breaks the protective spell at last. Circe then hurriedly joins Penelope, Telemachus, and Telegonus back in the hall, where they wait for Athena’s arrival, Circe grasping the poison spear. (full context)

Athena turns scornfully from Telemachus and addresses Telegonus instead. Horrified, Circe calls out to her son, telling him to stay silent. When Athena... (full context)

Telegonus speaks up a last. He tells Circe that he wants to go west to the... (full context)

Putting on a brave face so that Telegonus will not see her grief, Circe helps her son pack. When he asks whether she... (full context)

Telemachus interrupts their packing to give Telegonus the bow that had once belonged to Odysseus. As her son marvels at the gift,... (full context)

Without Telegonus, Circe feels her life shrink before her once again. Pacing across her island, she feels... (full context)

Circe heads down to Telegonus’s old boat and is shocked to see the improvements that Telemachus has made, particularly the... (full context)

...and Circe, Telemachus, and the two daughters that they will have will visit. As for Telegonus, they will visit him in his city where he rules justly. (full context)

Circe

Telegonus Character Analysis

Telegonus Quotes in Circe

Chapter 19 Quotes

Chapter 21 Quotes

Chapter 22 Quotes

Telegonus Character Timeline in Circe