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2007-06-25T11:06:24Z

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Irlandos: New page: In the Cretan tales incorporated into Greek mythology, '''Tálos''' (Greek Τάλως; Latin Talus) or '''Tálon''' (Greek Τάλων) was a giant man of bronzeAlternati...

2007-06-25T11:04:37Z

New page: In the Cretan tales incorporated into Greek mythology, '''Tálos''' (Greek Τάλως; Latin Talus) or '''Tálon''' (Greek Τάλων) was a giant man of bronze<ref>Alternati...

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In the [[Crete|Cretan]] tales incorporated into [[Greek mythology]], '''Tálos''' (Greek Τάλως; Latin Talus) or '''Tálon''' (Greek Τάλων) was a giant man of bronze<ref>Alternatively he could be figured as a mythic bull. His bronze nature suggested to the author of ''[[Bibliotheke]]'' that he may have been a survivor from the Age of Bronze, "a descendant of the brazen race that sprang from [[Meliai|ash-trees]]" according to ''Argonautica'' 4; the conception that [[Hesiod]]'s men of the Age of Bronze were actually od bronze themselves is extended to men of the age of gold by Lucian of Samosata, for humorous effect.</ref> who protected [[Europa]] in [[Crete]], circling the island's shores three times daily<ref>Or, rationalizing the myth, thrice yearly, showing at each village in turn the laws of Minos inscribed on brass tablets, in the pseudo-Platonic dialogue, ''Minos''.</ref> while guarding it. In the Cretan dialect ''talôs'' was the equivalent of the Greek ''hêlios'', the sun: the lexicon of [[Hesychius of Alexandria]] notes simply, "Talos is the sun." In Crete [[Zeus]] was worshipped as ''Zeus Tallaios'',<ref>Karl Kerenyi, ''The Gods of the Greeks'' 1951:110.</ref> "Solar Zeus", absorbing the earlier god as an epithet in the familiar sequence.<ref>Martin P. Nilsson noted that "Talos is evolved out of an old Cretan god, who became identified with Zeus" and concluded that, like [[Cronus]], Zeus Tallaios belongs certainly to the pre-Greek stratum (Nilsson, "Fire-Festivals in Ancient Greece" ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' '''43'''.2 [1923, pp. 144-148] p. 148); A.B. Cook, ''Zeus: God of the Bright Sky'' I, 729ff. treats Zeus Tallaios.</ref> The god was identified with the ''Tallaia'', a spur of the Ida range in Crete. On the coin from [[Phaistos]] he is winged; in Greek vase-paintings and Etruscan bronze mirrors he is not. Details about Talos vary widely, with one consistent detail: in Greek imagery outside Crete, Talos is always being vanquished:<ref>In a note in ''[[Bibliotheke]]'', vanquished by an arrow shot by Poeas to his vulnerable heel; in ''[[Argonautica]]'', vanquished by the magical arts of [[Medea]]. In Attic and South Italian vase-paintings, the [[Dioscuri]], flank his falling figure; no literary source mentions them in connection with Talos (Thalia Phillies Howe, "Sophokles, Mikon and the Argonauts" ''American Journal of Archaeology'' '''61'''.4 [October 1957, pp. 341-350] p. 347 and notes).</ref> he seems to have been an enigmatic figure to the Greeks themselves.<ref>Pausanias, noting the unorthodox genealogy of Talos given by Cinaethon, remarks "The legends of Greece generally have different forms, and this is particularly true of genealogy."</ref>

Talos is described by Greeks as a gift, either a gift from [[Hephaestus]] to [[Minos]], forged with the aid of the [[Cyclopes]] in the form of a [[Bull (mythology)|bull]]<ref>''Bibliotheke'' 1.9.26; this is the source of the later impression that Talos was an automaton.</ref> or a gift from [[Zeus]] to Europa.<ref>Only in ''Argonautica'' 4 and in [[Eustathius]], according to H. de la Ville de Mirmont, ''Apollonios de Rhodes: les Argonautiques: traduction française suivie de notes critiques'' (Paris and Bordeaux) 1892:402, noted in J. Douglas Bruce, "Human Automata in Classical Tradition and Mediaeval Romance" ''Modern Philology'' '''10'''.4 [April 1913, pp. 511-526] p. 513 and note.</ref> Or he may have been the son of ''Kres'', the personification of Crete;<ref>According to a fragment of the early poet [[Cinaethon of Sparta]], for whom Talos was the ''father'', not the creation, of [[Hephaestus]]; it was noted by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (VIII.53.2, .5).</ref> In ''Argonautica'' Talos threw rocks at any approaching ship. In the Byzantine encyclopia, ''[[Sudas]]'' Talos is said, when the Sardinians did not wish to release him to Minos, to have heated himself red-hot by jumping into a fire and to have clasped them in his embrace.<ref>Nilsson 1923:148 compares the stories told by Hellenes of [[Molech]] at Carthage.</ref>

Talos had one vein which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail. The [[Argo]], containing [[Jason]] and the [[Argonauts]], approached Crete after obtaining the [[Golden Fleece]]. As guardian of the island, Talos kept the Argo at bay by hurling great boulders at it. According to Apollodorus, Talos was slain either when [[Medea]] the sorceress drove him mad with drugs, deceived him that she would make him mortal by removing the nail. In Argonautica, Medea hypnotized him from the Argo, driving him mad with the ''keres'' she raised, so that he dislodged the nail, and "the ichor ran out of him like molten lead",exsanguinating and killing him.
The story is somewhat reminiscent of the story regarding the heel of [[Achilles]].

'''Talos''' is also the inventive young pupil of [[Daedalus]] at Athens, who copied a fishbone for the first saw; Daedalus killed him in jealousy.<ref>''Bibliotheke''</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Talos1.html Talos in the Greek Mythology Link]

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Giants]]
[[Category:Greek mythological people]]
[[Category:Greek legendary creatures]]

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 ==Notes==
-{{reflist|2}}
+# ^ Alternatively he could be figured as a mythic bull. His bronze nature suggested to the author of Bibliotheke that he may have been a survivor from the Age of Bronze, "a descendant of the brazen race that sprang from ash-trees" according to Argonautica 4; the conception that Hesiod's men of the Age of Bronze were actually od bronze themselves is extended to men of the age of gold by Lucian of Samosata, for humorous effect.
 ==External links==

Talos - Revision history

Irlandos: /* Notes */

Irlandos: New page: In the Cretan tales incorporated into Greek mythology, '''Tálos''' (Greek Τάλως; Latin Talus) or '''Tálon''' (Greek Τάλων) was a giant man of bronzeAlternati...