Who were the Telchines?
The Telchines were mysterious sorcerers and metalworkers of Greek mythology who lived on the island of Rhodes. They forged Poseidon’s legendary trident and assisted the gods in many ways before using their powers for evil and facing destruction.
What do Telchines look like?
Telchines look different depending on the myth, but usually have the fins and tails of fish with the heads of dogs. By other accounts, they are shapeshifters.
Where did the Telchines live?
In most myths, the Telchines lived on the island of Rhodes in the South Aegean Sea. Other accounts also put them on the islands of Ceos and Crete.
When did the Telchines appear in Greek myths?
The Telchines appeared early in Greek mythology in the work of the Greek poet Pindar (ca. 5th century BCE). However, most surviving accounts of the Telchines come from Roman interpretations of Greek myths written much later.
Why were the Telchines destroyed?
The Telchines were destroyed because they turned from good to evil. Rather than assisting the gods, they turned to mischief, like creating a potion with sulphur and water from the River Styx to poison plants and animals.
How did the Telchines meet their end?
There are many different accounts of how the Telchines met their end, but the most well-known is that they were killed by Apollo who had taken the form of a wolf. Other myths have Zeus striking them down with lightning, or Poseidon drowning them in a flood.
Table of Contents
Origins and Parents of the Telchines
The origin of Telchines varies widely depending on the source of the myth, and most of the surviving texts that mention the Telchines are not from the original Greek authors, but from later Roman sources. In fact, along the way, the Romans changed the spelling from the Greek version, Telkhine. Since the Roman accounts are far more abundant, Telchine has become the standard spelling.
One of the most influential and definitive records of the Telchines comes from John Tzetzes’ Theogony, a twelfth-century epic poem meant to preserve Greek myths. Tzetzes uses lost Greek texts, so he remains the foremost authority on the Telchines.[1]
Tzetzes transcribes several of the earliest myths regarding the origin of the Telchines. One claims they were the children of the god of the underworld, Tartarus, and Nemesis, the goddess of revenge. In other accounts, they sprang from Gaia, “Mother Earth” herself, with the help of either Pontus, a primordial sea god, or the blood of Uranus, god of the sky.
Earlier recorded histories, such as the Bibliotheca Historica (Library of History), written by Roman author Diodorus Siculus in the first century BCE, say that the Telchines came directly from Thalassa, the Greek goddess and personification of the sea.
Although there’s a great deal of variation, the common thread among these origin stories is that the Telchines were direct descendants of the original primal gods and some of the earliest beings depicted in Greek mythology.
In fact, it is probably due to their origins in the very beginning of Greek mythology that so much about the Telchines is disputed. Their stories were told and retold so many times that by the time they were recorded in written texts, there were significant discrepancies.
Appearance and Character
There are more significant variations in how the Telchines are portrayed, both in terms of their physical appearance and their powers and temperaments.
Physical Appearance of the Telchines
By some accounts, the Telchines were merely a race of people who had acquired magical abilities but remained in human form. However, due to their association with the sea, many myths give them some fish-like characteristics, such as fins rather than arms, skin like that of a sea urchin, or the appearance of mermaids and mermen.
To demonstrate just how varied the Telchines appear in myth, consider the account of the Greek scholar Eustathius, who wrote commentary on the works of Homer. He describes the Telchines as having fins for hands, consistent with the myth that they were descendants of Thalassa. On the very same page, however, he also describes them as the dogs of Acteon turned into men, who retained the heads of dogs.[2]
Most commonly, these descriptions are gruesomely combined, and we’re left with fish-finned, dog-headed mermen and mermaids. Enjoy that description in your nightmares tonight.
Though the myths of their physical appearance seem uneven, one in particular could explain it all—our aforementioned friend Siculus described them as shapeshifter-type beings who could take any form they wanted.
Character of the Telchines
Again, in accordance with our theme, there’s a lot of variation when it comes to the character of the Telchines. In some myths, they are nurturers and caregivers, in others they are quite demonic.
This may be a case of the myths going in two different directions, or, as we’ll discuss later, the Telchines may have taken an evil turn.
Telchines as caring creators
One of the enduring myths about the Telchines is also one of the most endearing. Siculus recounts that the Telchines were tasked with raising Poseidon, who is obviously among the principal Greek gods and goddesses. Their role as caregivers in Poseidon’s origin myth suggests that the Telchines were at one time viewed as trustworthy stewards by the gods.
Siculus goes on to say that it was the Telchines who were “the discoverers of certain arts and that they introduced other things which are useful for the life of mankind.”[3]
Other accounts credit them as the first to construct statues to honor the gods or talented metallurgists who created many of the gods’ weapons, such as Poseidon’s legendary trident.
Telchines as evil destroyers
It is hard to reconcile these accounts with other myths involving the Telchines. For example, Ovid, writing at around the same time as Siculus, described them in Metamorphoses as evil beings whose eyes could be “corrupting by the very looking upon them.”[4]
According to some descriptions, they had magical powers over the heavens, able to summon storms at will. They used these powers for evil and guarded their magical secrets very carefully, something that certainly did not sit well with the gods.
They could also reputedly create earthquakes, and sixth-century Greek poet Paulus Silentiarius blamed them for earthquakes that destroyed buildings in his native Constantinople.[5]
The Greek geographer, Strabo, recounts what may have been their most evil act in The Geography. He says that the Telchines were known as “maligners” and created a mixture of sulphur and water from the River Styx, which they used to poison plants and livestock.
The Craftsmanship and Magical Abilities of the Telchines
As mysterious as the Telchines remain, the myths that have survived describe them as smart, skilled, industrious, and powerful creatures. The magic and skills they possessed affected many different critical facets of Greek society.
The Greeks were seafarers, and a great number of myths describe storms and shipwrecks at the hands of various sea monsters. The Telchines, who had power over the sea, were blamed for sudden storms, although they don’t seem to have gotten much credit for calm seas.
Their ability to control the weather also affected agriculture, and when floods or droughts appeared, Greek farmers believed it was the work of the Telchines.
In a demonstration of both their artistic skill and their ingenuity, they were also the first to erect statues in honor of the gods, a tradition that became extremely prevalent in Greek society and even more so in later Roman times.
The Telchines were also skilled metalworkers and crafted sophisticated tools of bronze and iron, such as sickles and other tools that would have been instrumental to Greek farm life.
It is when the Telchines combined their metallurgical abilities with their magic, however, that they were at their most powerful. They created Poseidon’s trident, the sickle that was horrifically used on Uranus, and a cursed necklace, all of which made them principal, albeit hidden, characters in some of the most popular Greek myths.
Myths Involving the Telchines
If you think of Greek mythology as one enormous movie, the Telchines are the production crew. They’re the ones creating the sets, taking care of the lighting, and doing all the little things necessary to make the film. They might briefly appear on screen as an extra, but almost all of what they do is behind the scenes.
Consider their role in the following myths.
Castration of Uranus
Cronus, considered one of the most evil Greek gods, lusted after the power possessed by his father Uranus. After Uranus and Gaia had some arguments over how to raise their children—Uranus thought some of them should be banished to the depths of the Hades—Gaia decided to help Cronus take the throne.
To do so, she and Cronus would need a formidable weapon. They went to the Telchines, who crafted and designed an enormous sickle of unimaginable power.
Gaia asked Uranus to meet her, but had Cronus hiding nearby. At her signal, Cronus leapt from his hiding place and castrated his father with the sickle. Uranus was never quite the same, and Cronus assumed the throne.
The Birth of Poseidon
If you believe nurture wins out in the nature vs nurture argument, then any of the myths regarding Poseidon are tied to the Telchines. It is, after all, the Telchines who raised Poseidon.
Poseidon’s father, Cronus, was not only a castrator, but he also had a penchant for eating his children if he saw them as a threat to his throne. Poseidon’s mother Rhea had to be quite creative in hiding any offspring, so she told Cronus that she’d given birth to a horse instead of a god.
Cronus apparently bought it, and Rhea spirited away her real child, Poseidon, to Rhodes, where she asked the Telchines to raise him. They seemed to have done quite well in that regard, since Poseidon became god of both the sea and of earthquakes, two realms in which the Telchines excelled.
Poseidon’s Trident
One of the first images that springs to mind when you think of Greek gods is probably the mighty Poseidon emerging from the sea with his trident aloft.
Guess who made that trident. That’s right, the Telchines.
The Telchines crafted the trident out of gold and brass and imbued it with the power to control the sea and the earth. With that trident, Poseidon could create rivers, start earthquakes, and control the winds and seas.
Necklace of Harmonia
Like the Telchines, the Necklace of Harmonia has an ambiguous backstory, but it weaves its way through some of the most famous tales in Greek mythology.
Two theories explain how the necklace came to be. One claims it was manufactured by Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, when he discovered his wife Aphrodite was having an affair. He made it to curse any children that resulted from the discretion.
The other theory names the Telchines as the creators of the necklace.
Regardless, the necklace carried both an enticing blessing and a heinous curse. Whoever wore it would look eternally young and beautiful, but also face dire consequences.
First, of course, was Harmonia herself. She and her husband, Cadmus, both wore it and were turned into serpents. It later went to Semele, who was impregnated by Zeus and banished to Hades by Zeus’s spouse. Finally, and perhaps most famously, the necklace went to Queen Jocasta, the mother of Oedipus, who slept with her by accident, since she looked eternally young. When he discovered it was his mother, Oedipus tore his own eyes out and Jocasta took her own life as recorded by Sophocles in the play Oedipus Rex.
The Downfall and Punishment of the Telchines
There are two possible root causes for the eventual downfall of the Telchines. Either they were inherently evil but clever beings who eventually crossed a line and had to be dealt with, or they were once kind caregivers who took a revenge plot too far.
There is a great deal of consensus on why they were eventually punished. For one reason or another, they mixed Styx water and sulphur in order to kill the plants and livestock on their native island of Rhodes. This obviously caused great harm to its human inhabitants.
Did they do this simply because of their devious nature, or did they have a concrete motive?
Nonnus, in his epic poem Dionysiaca, tells how the “spiteful” Telchines were kicked out of Rhodes and exiled to the depths of the sea. The poisoning was their vengeance on those who now lived in their former home.
The gods reacted swiftly to this act of evil and/or revenge. Not only did it show too much cruelty to the humans of Rhodes, but it was also a godly act perpetrated by mere Telchines.
The Telchines were wiped off the face of the earth.
How, of course, depends on the myth. Either Zeus struck them down with lightning or flood, Apollo appeared in the form of a wolf to finish them off, or Poseidon, whom they used to babysit, took it upon himself to kill them.
Likewise, the Telchines were largely removed from the written record. Some scholars say that early Greek authors, such as Pindar, largely excluded them because they cast a bad light on those from Rhodes and didn’t fit his larger morality goals for the myths he was retelling.[6] Strabo says they were maligned and erased because so many were jealous of the Telchines’ awe-inspiring craftsmanship and magical powers.
Or perhaps it was just a matter of the myth’s popularity in ancient times. Would you rather hear that the seas were controlled by the mighty Poseidon or some fishy dog creatures?
Telchines in Art and Literature
Despite the Telchines’ significance, their relative obscurity means they only appear as bit characters in most literature and arts.
Ancient Depictions of Telchines
The Telchines are not often depicted on vase paintings like many other beings in Greek mythology. Perhaps artists of the era weren’t skilled enough to depict mermaid/dogmen, or perhaps there wasn’t much of a market for vases with such gruesome decorations. Either way, few, if any, images from ancient times exist.
True to the Telchines’ behind-the-scenes nature, it is their creations that are most often depicted. For example, Poseidon and his trident can be seen in sculptures, paintings, pottery, and any other art form you can imagine.
Modern depictions of Telchines
A small but growing resurgence of interest in the Telchines is reflected in fantasy fiction, animated series, and games.
The cult favorite animated series Class of the Titans features teenage descendants of the Greek gods in a modern high school setting. It depicts the Telchines as evil, scheming, vengeful beings who try to take on Poseidon but end up trapped in Tartarus.
Popular author Rick Riordan also introduced his version of the Telchines to his millions of readers in a particularly modern way:
A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn’t notice us. He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on uglyface.com.
– Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian
Riordan’s books have inspired graphic novels, films and television series, and fan fiction, so perhaps a resurgence of the myths of the Telchines is soon upon us.
Symbolism and Interpretation
When you consider the sum of the various myths of the Telchines, some familiar Greek themes emerge. They were once valued caretakers of the gods, but soon showed the type of hubris that is so often punished in Greek mythology. They thought they could exact their own punishment on the people of Rhodes, and instead they were the ones to pay the ultimate price.
The lesson seems to be that no matter how skilled you are, or how powerful, there will always be someone or something more powerful to which you are accountable. The gods may have sought the Telchines’ assistance, but that did not give them the right to act like gods. They did, and they were severely punished for their hubris.
The Telchines also demonstrate the complexity common to characters of Greek mythology. Like humans, gods and mythical beings are imperfect. Even heroes are flawed, and even the most revered gods often commit egregious mistakes and horrible crimes. The Telchines, although often thought of as only troublemakers, were skilled artisans with supernatural powers. In Greek mythology, like in life, you always have to take the good with the bad.
The Legacy of the Cursed Beings
Perhaps it is the contradictory nature of the Telchines that most profoundly tells their story. They reared a primal god but created a cursed necklace. They were the first to create celebratory statues of the gods, but poisoned the flora and fauna of an island. They created some of the most significant items in Greek mythology, yet have faded into obscurity.
Why did they disappear? Whatever the reason, their footprints (or finprints) are all over the greatest stories in Greek mythology, and this legacy will keep the Telchines relevant as long as we tell them.
References
- Tomadaki, Maria. “Uncovering the Literary Sources of John Tzetzes’ Theogony.” Byzantine Commentaries on Ancient Greek Texts, 12th–15th Centuries, 130–47. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
- Eustathius, Eustathius of Thessalonica: Commentary on the Odyssey. Edited and translated by Eric Cullhed and S. Douglas Olson. Brill Academic Hub, 2022.
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59–8. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Loeb Classical Library 340. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1939.
- Ovid. Metamorphoses. Edited by R. J. Tarrant. Oxford Classical Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Preller, Ludwig. 1894. Griechische Mythologie Vol I. Berlin: Weidmann.
- Cairns, Francis. “Pindar. Olympian 7: Rhodes, Athens, and the Diagorids.” Eikasmos XVI, 2005.