Telephassa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Argive genealogy in Greek mythology
Inachus son of Oceanus and Tethys Phoroneus and Io children of Inachus and Melia Epaphus son of Io and Zeus Libya daughter of Epaphus and Memphis Belus and Agenor sons of Lybia and Poseidon Aegyptus and Danaus sons of Belus and Achiroe Hypermnestra daughter of Danaus, mother of Abas grandmother of Proetus Cadmus, Phoenix, Cilix and Europa children of Agenor and Telephassa Polydorus, Agave, Autonoë, Ino and Semele children of Cadmus and Harmonia Dionysus son of Semele and Zeus

In Greek mythology, Telephassa, also known as Argiope, was the wife of Agenor. In some cases she is the daughter to Nilus, god of the Nile. She had several children, including Europa, Cilix, Cadmus, Thasus and Phoenix. Her husband was Agenor or perhaps her husband was Phoenix in a version in which Cadmus and Europa and their brothers are sons of Phoenix (see Agenor and Phoenix). Zeus saw Europa gathering flowers and immediately fell in love with her. Zeus transformed himself into a white bull and carried Europa 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. After burying his mother, Cadmus was told of the oracle of Delphi by the Thacians. 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 lay down; this city became Thebes. Cilix, Europa's other brother, also searched for her and settled down in Asia Minor. The land was called Cilicia after him.

Many scholars believe that these Greek myths actually show the inter-relationship between Phoenicia and Greece itself, with such ancient antiquities being distantly linked, and historically much more fragmented. The Phoenicians and the Greeks historically traded continually for many centuries with each other, and the original Phoenicians and Greeks were racially defined as Aryans, then with the alphabetic development of the Greek language from the Phoenician language, the cultural links between the Middle East and Europe, are clearly established therefore.