In Greek mythology, Teleon (Ancient Greek: Τελέων, gen. Τελέοντος) may refer to the following two distinct characters:
- Teleon, also called Geleon (Γελέων), the Athenian son of Ion, eponym of the Ionians, and brother of Aegicoreus, Argades and Hoples. The earlier four tribes of Athens: Teleontes (Teleonites)/ Geleontes, Aegicoreis, Argadeis (Ergadeis) and Hopletes (Hoplites) were named after him and his siblings. Later on, Teleon fathered Butes, one of the Argonauts, by his naiad-wife Zeuxippe, daughter of the river god Eridanos.
- Teleon, the Locrian father of Eribotes, another Argonaut. Apollonius describes Teleon as "virtuous" (ἀγαθός), but beyond that, no information on this figure is available.
Notes
- Apollonius Rhodius, 1.72 & 95 with scholia ad, 1.95
- Herodotus, 5.66.2; Euripides, Ion 1579
- Herodotus, 5.66.2; Euripides, Ion 1575-1581; Pollux, 8.109
- Compare with Strabo, 8.7.1 (p. 383) where “. . .At first Ion divided the people into four tribes, but later into four occupations: four he designated as farmers, others as artisans, others as sacred officers, and a fourth group as the guards.” while Plutarch, Solon 23.4 states the “. . . four tribes were originally named, not from the sons of Ion, but from the classes into which occupations were divided; thus the warriors were called Hoplitai, the craftsmen Ergadeis; and of the remaining two, the farmers were called Geleontes, the shepherds and herdsmen Aigikoreis.”
- Apollodorus, 1.9.16
- Hyginus, Fabulae 14
- Apollonius Rhodius, 1.96
References
- Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, 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.