The Death of Odysseus | Telegonus, the Telegony, and the Story After the Odyssey

The Odyssey itself ends in Book 24 with a scene of peace settling over Ithaca once more, and it never tells how Odysseus actually died. His death belongs not to the Odyssey but to the tradition of a lost sequel epic, the Telegony. Let's start by looking at where the two stories diverge.

The Final Peace That Settles Over Ithaca

After Odysseus has punished all the suitors, he goes out to find his father Laertes in the orchard outside the city. At first he does not reveal who he is right away, speaking to him like a passing traveler, but soon he shows a token proving he is his son and reveals himself to his father.

Meanwhile, something else was happening inside the city of Ithaca. Eupithes, the father of one of the dead suitors, took the lead, gathering the families who had lost their sons and arming themselves to punish Odysseus. For them this was revenge, and for Odysseus it was another price he had to pay.

When the two sides met, Laertes was the first to hurl a spear and strike down Eupithes. From this moment, a fight of swords and spears was about to break out once more. It was a situation where Odysseus and his family had to defend with blood what they had already protected once.

At that very moment, the goddess Athena intervenes and stops the fight. Zeus hurls a thunderbolt between the two sides, and Athena establishes a oath of peace between them, so the conflict is resolved without further deaths. This scene, in which order returns to Ithaca, is the final scene of the Odyssey, and the death of Odysseus himself appears nowhere within it.

The Next Story That Does Not Survive, the Telegony

The story dealing with Odysseus's death belonged to a sequel epic called the Telegony. The problem is that the original text of this work no longer survives. The only reason we can know its plot today is thanks to a summary compiled by the ancient scholar Proclus.

So this story is not treated on the same level as the text of the Odyssey itself, written by Homer. It must be made clear that this is a later tradition passed down only through a summary, not the complete original work—otherwise you might mistake what follows for the ending of the Odyssey.

Telegonus, the Son Sent by Circe

The specific plot of this episode is transmitted through the Epitome of the Bibliotheca left by the ancient scholar Apollodorus. According to this text, Telegonus was the son born between Odysseus and the sorceress Circe. After Odysseus left the island of Aeaea, Circe raised their son alone.

When Telegonus came of age, he learned from Circe that he was the son of Odysseus, and he set sail to find his father. The place he arrived at was Ithaca.

Upon reaching Ithaca, Telegonus began driving off the herds of cattle there.

The Spear Aimed Without Knowing It Was His Father

To protect the herds, Odysseus himself steps forward. Father and son faced each other, neither knowing who the other was.

According to Apollodorus, the spear Telegonus carried had a stingray's barb set into its tip. In the course of the fight, this spear struck Odysseus, and that wound ultimately took his life.

It was only afterward that Telegonus learned the man he had struck down was none other than his father, Odysseus. The voyage he had set out on to meet his father ended, instead, in the moment his own hand brought his father to death.

Those Who Returned to Circe's Island

Apollodorus also tells what happened afterward. Telegonus, having learned that the man he had killed was his father, placed Odysseus's body and Penelope on his ship and brought them to Circe on the island of Aeaea.

According to Apollodorus, Circe made them immortal and sent them to the Isles of the Blessed, and Telegonus was joined with Penelope, while Telemachus was joined with Circe.

Keeping the Original Text, Later Tradition, and the Film Apart

The cause of Odysseus's death and the relationships afterward are transmitted somewhat differently in each tradition. Rather than forcing these differences into a single fixed version, it is more accurate to read Homer's original text, later traditions, and modern films or adaptations as separate layers.

Up through Book 24, the Odyssey is the text Homer left behind, while Telegonus and the death of Odysseus belong to the tradition of a sequel epic whose original text is lost. If you keep this boundary in mind, you can follow the stories without confusing which tale came from where.

Characters Who Lead Into the Next Story

The circumstances of Telegonus, who had to face his father without recognizing him, are covered in more detail in the myth of Telegonus. The bond between the mother who raised him alone and Odysseus can be found in the myth of Circe.

The circumstances of Penelope, left behind in Ithaca after Odysseus's death, can be seen in the myth of Penelope. The full journey Odysseus took to reach this ending can be continued in the plot order of the Odyssey.