Telephassa

Telephassa (/;t;l;;f;s;/; Ancient Greek: ;;;;;;;;;, T;l;phassa, "far-shining"), also spelled Telephaassa (/;t;l;fi;;s;/; ;;;;;;;;;;) and Telephe[1] (/;t;l;fi;/; ;;;;;;), is a lunar epithet in Greek mythology that is sometimes substituted for Argiope the wife of Agenor, according to his name a "leader of men"[2] in Phoenicia, and mother of Cadmus.[3][4]


Family

Telephassa was the daughter of Nilus, god of the river Nile and Nephele, a soft cloud Oceanid.[5] In one account, she was a descendant of Libya herself.[6] In a version of the myth, Telephe was called the daughter of Epimedusa who was otherwise unknown.[7]

Telephassa had several children, including Europa,[8] Cilix, Cadmus, Thasus,[9] and Phoenix.[10] Thasus is sometimes said to be her grandchild by Cilix.[11] Her husband was Agenor or perhaps Phoenix[8] in a version in which Cadmus and Europa and their brothers are children of Phoenix. In the latter's version, Peirus, Phoenice and Astypale were included as Phoenix's offsprings.[7]

Mythology

Telephassa gave to her daughter, Europa, the basket of gold which was made by Hephaestus. This gift was originally bestowed by Poseidon to Libya who in turn gave this to Telephassa by the account of their blood relation.[6]

"Now Europa’s basket was of gold, an admirable thing, a great marvel and a great work of Hephaestus, given of him unto Libya the day the Earth-Shaker took her to his bed, and given of Libya unto the fair beauteous Telephassa because she was one of her own blood; and so the virgin Europa came to possess the renown;d gift, being Telephassa was her mother."[6]

Zeus saw Europa gathering flowers, transformed himself into a white bull, and carried her away to the island of Crete. He then revealed his true identity and Europa became the first queen of Crete. Telephassa accompanied her son Cadmus on a quest to find Europa. The mother and son traveled to the islands of Rhodes and Thera before arriving in Thrace, where Telephassa fell ill and died. "On Samothrace... the mother was called Elektra or Elektryone", Karl Kerenyi notes.[12] After burying his mother, Cadmus was told of the oracle of Delphi by the Thracians. Upon consulting the oracle, he was advised to travel until encountering a cow. He was to follow this cow and to found a city where the cow would lie down; this city became Thebes. Cilix, Europa's other brother, also searched for her and settled down in southern Asia Minor. The land was called Cilicia after him.

Telephassa

She was a daughter of the Nile and Nephele,
And her nature was damp and light,
Soft and deep,
Her smile would charm people and gods.
She was a mother of Europa,
A gold basket owner
And a mother looking for her lost child,
One of the most attractive women in Libya.