Telephus- Greek HeroHero"King of Mysia"

Birth and Exile

Heracles came to Tegea in Arcadia and seduced Auge, a priestess of Athena, in the goddess's own temple. When her father King Aleus discovered the pregnancy, he exposed the infant on Mount Parthenion and set Auge adrift at sea. An oracle had warned him that Auge's offspring would destroy his sons. On the mountainside, a deer found the baby and nursed him. Shepherds found him after. As a young man, Telephus traveled to Mysia, guided by an oracle to seek his mother. He found Auge there, married to King Teuthras, who adopted Telephus and made him his heir.

The Vine and the Spear

When the Greek fleet sailed for Troy, they lost their way and landed at Mysia. Telephus mustered his forces and attacked. He killed Thersander, son of Polynices, in the fighting. But he had neglected to honor Dionysus. The god caused a vine to spring from the ground and tangle around Telephus's feet. He stumbled. Achilles's spear found him, and the wound it left would not close. The Greeks realized they had landed in the wrong country and withdrew.

He Who Wounded Shall Heal

The wound festered. An oracle declared that "he who wounded shall heal." Telephus traveled to Argos disguised as a beggar. At an altar in the city, he seized the infant Orestes from Clytemnestra's arms and refused to release the child until the Greeks agreed to heal him. Odysseus worked out the riddle: the wounder was the spear itself, not the warrior. He scraped rust from Achilles's spear onto the wound, and it closed. Telephus kept his bargain and guided the Greek fleet to Troy. But his wife Astyoche was Priam's daughter, and he refused to fight against the Trojans.