TELEPHUS (mature man with lean physique)

Zeus was willing that he should not perish wretchedly, and a deer nursed the baby.^6,7,8 A swift hind also nursed him, and King Corythus raised him as his own son.^7,9 Shepherds found the child and gave him the name Telephus because a doe nursed him.^6,7,9 In another account, his mother secretly left him in the sacred precinct of Athena, and Athena guided the chest containing him to the mouth of the Caïcus.^6,4 He became an adopted son of Teuthras and inherited the kingship of the Mysians.^7,5

Telephus traveled to Delphi to search for his parents and learn his mother's identity.^7,9 After receiving information from the god, he sailed to Mysia to find his mother.^7,9 He married Argiope, the daughter of Teuthras, and was named his successor.⁹ When the Greeks plundered the Meian plain, Telephus forbade them from passing through his kingdom.^10,2 He armed the Mysians to fight the invading Greeks and led a group of Arcadians who crossed into Asia.^1,10 Telephus defeated the Achaean warriors, killed many men, and forced the Danaoi into the sterns of their ships.^11,12 Many of his companions were killed around him for gifts of women.⁴

Achilles wounded Telephus with a lance during the conflict at Teuthrania.^13,14 He was also struck by a spear near the banks of the Kaïkos river by a man from the island of Aigina.¹⁵ Telephus suffered from a wound that would not heal and fled when Achilles charged at him.^16,1 He got caught in a vine branch while being pursued and begged for his life after being vanquished.^1,13 An oracle directed him to travel to Argos, so he traveled from Mysia to Argos while wearing rags.^17,16 Telephus begged Achilles for help in exchange for showing the route to Troy.¹⁶ Achilles healed Telephus by scraping rust from his Pelian spear, and Telephus also healed his thigh wound using the spear that had wounded him.^16,18,19 After healing, Telephus revealed the correct course to steer for Troy, and Calchas confirmed the accuracy of this navigational information through divination.¹⁶ Achilles also healed Telephus after he arrived at Scyros.^2,17 Telephus gave fleetfoot horses to Achilles.¹⁹

Telephus dedicated a bronze bowl to the temple of Apollo in Patara, which was reportedly crafted by Hephaestus.²⁰ He had a hearth in Arcadia where Oeneus was killed.²¹ In a gathering, Telephus sat in speechless silence and made signs to answer questions instead of speaking.²² He killed Thersander and the son of Polyneices during the Greek expedition to Troy.^1,23 Telephus embraced Astyoche in his strong arms.²⁴