Teleboans

In Greek mythology, the Teleboans /təˈlɛboʊənz/ (Ancient Greek: Τηλεβόαι, Tēlebóai) were an Acarnanian tribe.^[1] They were said to descend from one Teleboas, a son of Pterelaus and brother of Taphius, the eponym of the Taphians.^[2] After dwelling for a time on the mainland, the Teleboans settled on the island of Taphos which was populated by their kinsmen.^[2] From the island the two tribes led piratical raids across Greece, and the names "Teleboan" and "Taphian" were later taken to refer to any inhabitant of Taphos.^[3] The Taphians and Teleboans murdered the brothers of Alcmene (to whom both tribes were related), a crime punished by her husband Amphitryon's sacking of their villages with the help of the Boeotians, Locrians and Phocians.^[4]

Notes

1. Liddel, H.G. and Scott, R. A Greek–English Lexicon, 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v. τηλεβόας, where the name is parsed as meaning "shouting afar".
2. Scholia: Argonautica 1.747–51a.
3. Scholia: Argonautica 1.747–51a; cf. Argonautica 1.747–51. At Bibliotheca 2.4.5 the two names for the inhabitants of Taphos are attributed to the fact that Taphius founded the island and named the people Teleboans because he had "gone far from his homeland" (τηλοῦ τῆς πατρίδος ἔβη), the adverb τηλοῦ, tēloû, being combined with the verb translated here as "gone", ἔβη, ébē.
4. Catalogue of Women fr. 195.15–26 = Shield of Heracles 15–26.

References

• Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com