Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, Theoclymenus (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

: Θεοκλύμενος) was a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

from Argos.

Family

Theoclymenus was the son of

Polypheides In Greek mythology, the name Polypheides or Polyphides (; Ancient Greek: Πολυφείδης) may refer to: *Polypheides, son of Mantius and brother of Cleitus. He was granted prophetic skills by Apollo and became the best seer among mortals aft ...

and Aechme, daughter of

Haemon According to Sophocles' play ''Antigone'', Haemon {{IPAc-en, ˈ, h, iː, m, ɒ, n or Haimon (Ancient Greek: Αἵμων, ''Haimon'' "bloody"; ''gen''.: Αἵμωνος) was the mythological son of Creon and Eurydice, and thus brother of Menoeceu ...

, and brother of Harmonides. In some accounts, his parents were Thestor and possibly Polymele, and thus, the brother of Leucippe, Theonoe and Calchas.

Mythology

In the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Iliad'', ...

'', had been taken from that city after killing one of his relatives being captured by pirates. He fled to

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is ...

and sought refuge aboard the ship of

Telemachus Telemachus ( ; grc, Τηλέμαχος, Tēlemakhos, lit=far-fighter), in Greek mythology, is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who is a central character in Homer's ''Odyssey''. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in s ...

, who had come to inquire about the fate of his father,

Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odys ...

. Telemachus obliged yes and Theoclymenus accompanied him back to

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

. There, Theoclymenus read the auspices of the birds, interpreting them to mean that Telemachus would become head of the royal house of Ithaca. He also prophesied that Odysseus was already in Ithaca, disguised and watching as events unfolded. When he told

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...

of these signs, she did not believe him. Later, at dinner, he had a vision of the death of the suitors, but they laughed at his predictions, not knowing they would indeed be killed that night.

Theoclymenos In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς - ''protos'', "first") was an ancient Egyptian king who was associated with the island of Pharos, his residence in Homer's ''Odyssey''. Virgil, however, instead of Pharos, mentions t ...

is also the name of the king of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...

' play ''

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

''.

Notes

References

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Gramma ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
{{Authority control Mythological Greek seers Characters in the Odyssey Argive characters in Greek mythology Messenian mythology Mythology of Argos