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 I - Telemachus and Mentor, in search of Ulysses, arrive on the island of Calypso; the nymph is still bemoaning the departure of Ulysses
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, conducted by Minerva in the guise of Mentor, after being shipwrecked, goes ashore on the island of the goddess Calypso, who still lamented the departure of Ulysses. The goddess gives him a favorable reception, becomes enamored of him, offers him immortality, and desires to know his adventures. He entertains her with a story of his voyage to Pylos and Lacedaemon; his shipwreck on the coast of Sicily; the risk he ran of being sacrificed to the soul of Anchises; the assistance which Mentor gave Acestes during an incursion of the barbarians; and the king's gratitude for that service, in bestowing upon them a Tyrian ship to return to their country.
Calypso remained inconsolable for the departure of Ulysses. In her sadness, she found herself miserable in being immortal. Her grotto no longer resounded with her song; her attendant nymphs were afraid to speak to her. She often walked alone upon the flowery turf, which a perpetual spring had diffused around her island; but these beautiful places, far from assuaging her grief, served only to recall the melancholy remembrance of Ulysses, by whom she had been so often accompanied. Frequently did she stand motionless on the beach of the sea, which she watered with her tears; and her face was always turned towards that quarter where the ship of Ulysses, plowing the waves, had disappeared from her eyes.
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- Information
- Fénelon: Telemachus , pp. 3 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994