Talaiis

Talaiis was a king of Argos and the father of Adrastus and Eriphyle by his wife Lysimache. He himself was the son of Bias and Pero.

His name is a propitious one and means either 'endurer', from tlao, 'to endure', or possibly 'flourishing', from thallo, 'to bloom', 'flourish'. The latter interpretation links up with the name of his son, since Adrastus may mean 'fruitful', and even his horse Arion, whose name could mean 'flowing'.

Talos

Talos was a bronze giant who guarded Crete. He had a single vein in his body which ran from his head to his ankles and contained so-called ichor, the blood of the gods. He was killed by Medea, who pulled out the nail in his foot that sealed the bottom of the vein, whereupon he bled to death.

In reference to this, or to combats undertaken in his lifetime (he had the task of repelling invaders), his name is said to mean 'sufferer', from talas, 'enduring', 'patient', 'wretched'.

Talthybius

Talthybius was the chief herald of the Greeks in the Trojan War. It seems reasonable to look for a 'belligerent' origin here, and perhaps it lies in talas, 'enduring' (as for Talos) and bios, 'life', or else thyella, 'storm' (from thyo, 'to rush', 'storm') and bios, so that his name expresses an 'enduring life' or a 'stormy life'. The first element in the name, if it derives from talas, can mean not just 'enduring' but also 'suffering', 'wretched' and even 'headstrong'.

All these are suitable for a man who was forever carrying out disagreeable duties, such as taking Cassandra into slavery and snatching the child Astyanax from his mother Andromache so that he could be murdered.

Tantalus

Tantalus was the son of Zeus and the Titaness Pluto. His gro­tesque fate of having to stand up to his chin in water with fruit overhead that receded whenever he tried to reach it has given us the word 'tantalise'. There seems little doubt that his name is based on the talas or 'suffering' root that we considered for both Talos and Talthybius and saw in the names of Atlas and Telamon.

Plutarch derived it from the superlative of talas - talantatos, 'mos wretched'. But talanton means 'balance', 'pair of scales', and this may refer to his riches for which he was famous, so that he is a kind of personified greed: having much, he ever wishes for more.

There was even a Greek saying about the 'talents of Tantalus' (Tantalou talanta) which came to mean more or less the same as the 'riches of Croesus'. (In this respect, his mother's 'rich' name is significant.) A somewhat more complex theory, although on the same lines, sees his name as meaning 'flourishing', and as being a reduplication (as for Sisyphus) of thallo, 'to flourish'. This again refers to his wealth and his insatiable desire for more.

The redu­plication would have caused an original name such as 'Thalthalos' to become Tantalus, with 'th' alternating with 't', and Τ with 'n', as they sometimes did (for example, Ionic aythis, 'again', 'back' for aytis, and Attic litron for Doric nitron, 'soda').

Taphius

Taphius was the king of the Taphian islands near the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth, with his son Pterelaüs succeeding him to the throne here. He was the son of Poseidon and Hippothoë, and his name seems to mean 'tomb', from taphos, 'burial', 'tomb', an element seen in the English word 'cenotaph' (which literally means 'empty tomb').

It is not clear to which burial or tomb the name refers, if a specific reference was intended. However, there may be a prophetic reference to Pterelaüs, who was sent to his 'tomb' or death when Comaetho pulled out the single golden hair that kept him alive.

Tartarus

Tartarus was originally a place, situated as far below Hades as heaven was above the earth, to which rebellious Titans were sent.

Later it became synonymous with Hades, and later still it was personified by Hesiod in his Theogony as the offspring of Chaos, together with Gaia (earth) and Eros (love). The name looks easy, but is actually difficult to interpret.

It may be a Cretan word, and somehow linked to one of the place-names containing tar- that lie to the west of Greece, for example Tartessus, an ancient kingdom and sea port near the mouth of the river Guadalquivir in south-west Spain (modern Andalusia).

The name also had its influence on the spelling 'Tartar' (with an V) for a member of the race whose name is more correctly spelt Tatars (itself of Persian origin). (The other 'tartar' meaning 'wine sediment' seems to be related to neither Tartarus nor the Ta(r)tars, but apparently derives from a medieval Greek word tartaron of uncertain origin.)

Tauropolus

Tauropolus, after Tantalus and Tartarus, is a relatively straight-forward name to explain. It is a 'fighting' name, i.e. propitiously belligerent, meaning 'bull slayer', from tauros, 'bull' and apollymi, 'to slay' (see Apollo). Tauropolus was one of the 'winy' sons of Dionysus and Ariadne.

Taygete

Taygete was one of the Pleiades, so was a daughter of Atlas and Plei'one. After Zeus had seduced her (an attempt by Artemis to turn her into a doe having failed), she bore Lacedaemon. Her name has no obvious Greek derivation, and although 'properly' it should be spelt Taügete, the first half of the name does not appear to be derived from tauros, 'bull'.

Robert Graves inventively boils it down from a word tanygenuetos, 'long-cheeked', from tanyo, 'stretch' and geneus, 'both jaws', 'cheek'. This presumably could be a complimentary epithet, as 'cow-eyed' was. (There were similar words for physical characteristics, such as tanyetheiros, 'long-haired and tanypous, 'long-legged'.)

Tecmessa

Tecmessa was the daughter of the Phrygian king Teleutas. She became the mistress of Ajax and bore him Eurysaces. Her name seems to come from tecmairomai, 'to judge', 'decree', so that she is an 'ordainer' or even a priestess or goddess.

Tectamus

Tectamus was a king of Crete and a son of Dorus. He married a daughter of Cretheus and sailed for Crete with an army of Aeolians and Pelasgians. He seems to have been a resourceful and practical man, since his name indicates 'craftsman', from tectainomai, 'to build', 'plan', in turn from tecton, 'carpenter', 'builder'. This could have a metaphorical sense, however, and mean more 'planner', 'plotter'.

Tegyrius

Tegyrius was the Thracian king who gave shelter to Eumolpus and his son Ismarus when they were exiled from Ethiopia. His name could well mean 'bee-keeper', from tegos, 'roof, 'covering' and hyron, 'beehive' (compare Hyrieus). Bee-keeping and honey-production were an important industry in ancient Greece.

Teiresias

Teiresias was a blind seer (however contradictory that may seem) of Thebes, the son of Everes and the nymph Chariclo. When Zeus and Hera were disputing whether man or woman derives the greater pleasure from the sex act, Teiresias was called in as an impartial arbiter, since as a result of striking a pair of coupling snakes he had earlier been transformed for seven years into a woman.

His verdict was that women experienced a satisfaction nine or ten times greater. This reply angered Hera, who blinded Teiresias, but at the same time gave him the gift of prophecy. His name is thus based on teirea, 'heavenly bodies', 'signs', the Epic Greek plural of teras, 'sign', 'wonder', 'portent', and we can call him 'interpreter of portents', 'sign-reader'.

Telamon

Telamon was the son of Aeacus, king of Aegina, and Endeïs. He was the brother of Peleus and he married Hesione. His name can be interpreted in two ways: either as 'bearer', 'endurer', from tolas, 'enduring' or tlao, 'to bear' (compare Talos and Talthybius) or, more readily, 'supporting strap', from telamon.

Before marrying Hesione (who bore him Teucer), Telamon had married Periboea, daughter of Alcathoüs, and she had borne him Ajax. Ajax was famous for the great shield that he carried, and this could be the reference to the 'carrying strap'.

Thomas Keightley, however, who likes lining up family names on a common theme, sees a possibility for an origin in helos, 'marsh', so that Telamon, his brother Peleus, his wife Hesione, and his father Aeacus, all have 'watery' names.

Telchines

Telchines were magicians who lived at lalysus, on the island of Rhodes. According to Diodorus they were children of Thalassa ('sea'). Greek grammarians derived their names from thelgo, 'to charm', but there is a chance that the name actually relates to the Tyrrhenians or Tyrsenians, the people who were later known as the Etruscans.

Teledamus

Teledamus begins a short run of 'far' names, with the element tele, 'far' (as in many modern scientific words such as telephone and television). With Pelops, Teledamus was the twin son of Aga­ memnon and Cassandra. His name is a propitious one, meaning 'far tamer' from tele and damazo, 'to tame'.

Telegonus

Telegonus was the son of Odysseus and Circe, and was born to his parents during the year that Odysseus spent on Circe's island of Aeaea. According to Apollodorus, Telegonus killed his aged father in error and then married Penelope, Odysseus' former faith­ful wife.

His name means 'far born', 'born far off', from tele, 'far' and gonos, 'child', 'offspring'. This is because he was born far from Odysseus' native land of Ithaca. Another Telegonus was a king of Egypt, whom Io married. He, too, could have been 'far born'.

Telemachus

Telemachus was a son of Odysseus and Penelope. He was only a baby when his father went off to the Trojan War, and as he grew up, his mother was besieged by suitors who were convinced that Odysseus would never return to Ithaca.

Telemachus was too young and weak to counter the suitors, so Athena instilled manly power into the growing boy. His name means 'far fighter', from tele, 'far' and mache, 'fight', 'battle'. This could refer to his father, who was a 'far fighter' in the Trojan War, or to his own special strength, given by Athena, to fight from afar for his father on behalf of his mother.

There have been attempts to make his name mean 'final battle', from teleo, 'to complete', 'fulfil', 'finish', but although this seems appropriate, Telemachus' name is spelt in Greek with the letter eta (η), not the letter epsilon (e), so that the 'far' sense is the better one.

Telephassa

Telephassa was the wife of the Phoenician king Agenor, to whom she bore five sons (including Cadmus and Phoenix) and one daugh­ter, Europa. Her name is an agreeable one for a queen, meaning 'far shiner', from tele, 'far' and phao, 'to shine', 'beam'.

Telephus

Telephus was the son of Heracles and Auge. His name immedi­ately suggests 'far shiner', as if contracted from 'Telephanes', but it is traditionally derived from a blend of thele, 'teat' and elaphos, 'doe'.

This refers to the account which tells how some shepherds discovered him as an abandoned baby being suckled by a doe.

Tellus

Tellus was the Roman earth goddess, the equivalent of the Greek goddess Gaia (or Ge). Her name is simply Latin tellus, 'earth' (used more of the planet than to mean 'land'). This Latin word does not seem to be related to the better-known terra, 'land', yet the Roman goddess was also known as Terra.