Telephus

Accounts vary. In some early traditions Telephus is born in Mysia and raised at the court of King Teuthras; in other surviving versions he is born in Arcadia (son of Heracles and Auge), exposed as an infant on Mount Parthenion—sometimes sold or abandoned because Aleus received a Delphic oracle that a grandson would bring disaster—and in certain tellings the infant Telephus is suckled by a deer until found and raised by a herdsman or by King Corythus; later he comes under Teuthras' protection or is adopted by Teuthras and becomes heir and king of Mysia. These variant accounts are attested across the literary tradition and summarized in modern reference treatments.

Literary sources emphasize narrative episodes rather than a single canonical physical portrait: infancy motifs include exposure on Mount Parthenion and being suckled by a deer; as an adult he is depicted in the tradition as a Mysian king and warrior who bears a notable wound inflicted by Achilles. Classical drama and visual arts frequently represented episodes from his life (infancy, combat with Greeks, the wound and healing), but the supplied summaries do not record a standardized physical description such as height, dress, or distinguishing facial features.

Telephus is a mortal heroic figure: son of Heracles and Auge, adopted heir of Teuthras, military leader and defender of Mysia who repels the Achaean fleet that lands mistakenly en route to Troy. In that conflict he is wounded by Achilles; narrative tradition records that the wound would not heal until Achilles later heals him. He fathers Eurypylus, who later participates on the Trojan side. Telephus's roles are political and martial rather than supernatural—founder/dynastic and epic-linked actions tie him into the wider Trojan-cycle narrative.