Teleon Explained

In Greek mythology, Teleon may refer to the following two distinct characters:^[1]

• Teleon, also called Geleon (Γελέων),^[2] 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.^{[3] [4]} Later on, Teleon fathered Butes, one of the Argonauts,^[5] by his naiad-wife Zeuxippe, daughter of the river god Eridanos.^[6]
• Teleon, the Locrian father of Eribotes, another Argonaut. Apollonius describes Teleon as "virtuous" (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀγαθός),^[7] but beyond that, no information on this figure is available.

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.

Notes and References

1. [Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]
2. [Herodotus]
3. Herodotus, 5.66.2; Euripides, Ion 1575-1581; Pollux, 8.109
4. 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.”
5. [Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]
6. [Hyginus]
7. Apollonius Rhodius, 1.96