Talos
Domains:
Bronze Giant
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Greek Name | Transliteration | Latin Spelling | Translation |
Ταλως | Talôs | Talos | Cut down, the sun (talôs) |
TALOS was a giant, bronze automaton--a living statue forged by the divine smith Hephaistos (Hephaestus). According to others he was instead the last of the ancient bronze race of man.
Zeus gave Talos to his lover Europa after delivering her to the island of Krete (Crete). The giant was given the task of patrolling the island and circled it three times a day, driving off pirates with volleys of rocks. He was eventually destroyed by Poeas or the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri) twins with the aid of the magic of the witch Medea as he tried to prevent the Argonauts from the landing on the island.
In the genealogy of the ancient epic poet Cinaethon, Talos was the Kretan (Cretan) god of the sun, a son of Kres (i.e. the island of Krete), and the father of the fire-god Hephaistos. He was probably also the brother of Kretan moon-goddess Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos. The word talôs means "sun" in the Kretan dialect, but "cut down" or "hewn" in the mainland Greek dialects.
In classical art Talos was depicted as a handsome young man carved of bronze.