Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Critical bibliography
- Biographical sketches
- Telemachus, son of Ulysses
- Book I Telemachus and Mentor, in search of Ulysses, arrive on the island of Calypso; the nymph is still bemoaning the departure of Ulysses
- Book II Telemachus' account of Sesostris' wise rule in Egypt
- Book III Telemachus' tale of the cruelties of Pygmalion and Astarbé at Tyre
- Book IV Mentor reproves Telemachus for too easily falling under Calypso's spell; Telemachus continues his narrative
- Book V The story of Idomeneus, king of Crete, who kills his son and is banished. Mentor refuses the Cretan throne
- Book VI Telemachus falls in love with the nymph Eucharis, but Mentor tears him away from Calypso's island; Venus and Cupid are furious
- Book VII Telemachus and Mentor learn of the violent deaths of Pygmalion and Astarbé; Adoam describes the simplicty of the pastoral land of Bétique
- Book VIII Telemachus and Mentor are tricked by Venus into landing at Salente, the new city of the exiled Idomeneus. Salente prepares for war against the Mandurians
- Book IX Idomeneus describes the founding of Salente, the cause of the war with the Mandurians, and his grief in finding Nestor (hero of the Trojan War) on the opposing side
- Book X Mentor acquaints himself with Salente and instructs Idomeneus in the art of governing; he stresses peace, agriculture, and disinterestedness, and the suppression of luxury
- Book XI Idomeneus tells Mentor of his betrayal by the self-loving Protesilaus, and of the latter's efforts to ruin the virtuous and honest Philocles
- Book XII Telemachus, in the camp of Idomeneus' allies, gains the good will of Philoctetes (who had been on bad terms with Ulysses); Philoctetes gives an account of the death of Hercules
- Book XIII Telemachus' quarrel with Hippias; the king of the Daunians attacks the forces of Idomeneus and the allies. Death and funeral rites of Hippias
- Book XIV Telemachus descends into the infernal regions in search of Ulysses; there, in the Elysian fields, he sees the after-life of just kings. He meets the shade of his great-grandfather, who reveals that Ulysses still lives
- Book XV Telemachus defeats the enemies of Idomeneus and his allies, and vanquishes the treacherous Adastrus (who had killed the son of Nestor)
- Book XVI Telemachus refuses to divide the lands of the vanquished Daunians, and lets them choose a good king from their own numbers
- Book XVII Telemachus returns to Salente to discover Mentor's austere reforms in place: the city no longer overwhelms the countryside. Telemachus falls in love with Antiope, the virtuous daughter of Idomeneus
- Book XVIII Despite Idomeneus' pleas, Telemachus and Mentor leave Salente; Mentor gives his final advice about good government to Telemachus, then reveals himself to be Minerva, goddess of wisdom. Telemachus returns to Ithaca, where he finds his recently returned father, Ulysses
- Index
- Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought
Book XII - Telemachus, in the camp of Idomeneus' allies, gains the good will of Philoctetes (who had been on bad terms with Ulysses); Philoctetes gives an account of the death of Hercules
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Critical bibliography
- Biographical sketches
- Telemachus, son of Ulysses
- Book I Telemachus and Mentor, in search of Ulysses, arrive on the island of Calypso; the nymph is still bemoaning the departure of Ulysses
- Book II Telemachus' account of Sesostris' wise rule in Egypt
- Book III Telemachus' tale of the cruelties of Pygmalion and Astarbé at Tyre
- Book IV Mentor reproves Telemachus for too easily falling under Calypso's spell; Telemachus continues his narrative
- Book V The story of Idomeneus, king of Crete, who kills his son and is banished. Mentor refuses the Cretan throne
- Book VI Telemachus falls in love with the nymph Eucharis, but Mentor tears him away from Calypso's island; Venus and Cupid are furious
- Book VII Telemachus and Mentor learn of the violent deaths of Pygmalion and Astarbé; Adoam describes the simplicty of the pastoral land of Bétique
- Book VIII Telemachus and Mentor are tricked by Venus into landing at Salente, the new city of the exiled Idomeneus. Salente prepares for war against the Mandurians
- Book IX Idomeneus describes the founding of Salente, the cause of the war with the Mandurians, and his grief in finding Nestor (hero of the Trojan War) on the opposing side
- Book X Mentor acquaints himself with Salente and instructs Idomeneus in the art of governing; he stresses peace, agriculture, and disinterestedness, and the suppression of luxury
- Book XI Idomeneus tells Mentor of his betrayal by the self-loving Protesilaus, and of the latter's efforts to ruin the virtuous and honest Philocles
- Book XII Telemachus, in the camp of Idomeneus' allies, gains the good will of Philoctetes (who had been on bad terms with Ulysses); Philoctetes gives an account of the death of Hercules
- Book XIII Telemachus' quarrel with Hippias; the king of the Daunians attacks the forces of Idomeneus and the allies. Death and funeral rites of Hippias
- Book XIV Telemachus descends into the infernal regions in search of Ulysses; there, in the Elysian fields, he sees the after-life of just kings. He meets the shade of his great-grandfather, who reveals that Ulysses still lives
- Book XV Telemachus defeats the enemies of Idomeneus and his allies, and vanquishes the treacherous Adastrus (who had killed the son of Nestor)
- Book XVI Telemachus refuses to divide the lands of the vanquished Daunians, and lets them choose a good king from their own numbers
- Book XVII Telemachus returns to Salente to discover Mentor's austere reforms in place: the city no longer overwhelms the countryside. Telemachus falls in love with Antiope, the virtuous daughter of Idomeneus
- Book XVIII Despite Idomeneus' pleas, Telemachus and Mentor leave Salente; Mentor gives his final advice about good government to Telemachus, then reveals himself to be Minerva, goddess of wisdom. Telemachus returns to Ithaca, where he finds his recently returned father, Ulysses
- Index
- Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought
Summary
Telemachus, in the camp of the allies, gains the good will of Philoctetes, who at first was prejudiced against him on account of his father Ulysses. Philoctetes relates his adventures to him, in which he introduces an account of the death of Hercules, occasioned by the poisoned tunic which the centaur Nessus gave to Dejanira. He told him how he got from that hero his fatal arrows, without which the city of Troy could not have been taken; how he was punished for having betrayed his secrets, by all that he suffered in the isle of Lemnos; and how Ulysses employed Neoptolemus to prevail upon him to go to the siege of Troy, where he was cured of his wound by the son of Esculapius.
In the meantime Telemachus showed his courage in all the perils of war. When he left Salente, he applied himself to gain the affection of the old commanders, who had attained to the highest pitch of reputation and experience. Nestor, who had seen him before at Pylos, and who had always loved Ulysses, treated him as if he had been his own son. He gave him instructions and illustrated them by various examples, recounting to him all the adventures of his youth, and all the most remarkable exploits that he had seen performed by the heroes of the preceding age. The memory of that old man, who had lived three generations, was like a history of past times engraved on marble and brass.
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- Fénelon: Telemachus , pp. 198 - 212Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994