Source Verification: Talos
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
What was Talos's one weakness?
Although his bronze body was otherwise invulnerable, a single vein carrying his vital fluid, called ichor, ran from his neck down to his ankle and was sealed there by a thin bronze pin or nail. Anything that opened that one point, whether by accident or design, would drain him of the fluid that kept him alive.
Source: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1693
How exactly did Medea defeat Talos?
In Apollonius's account, she did not attack him directly at all. She chanted invocations to the Death-spirits and fixed Talos with a hostile, bewitching stare that disturbed his mind, and in his disoriented state he accidentally grazed his own ankle against a sharp rock while lifting stones to throw at the Argonauts, opening the sealed vein himself.
Source: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1693
Are there other versions of how Talos died?
Yes. Apollodorus records that some accounts have Medea drug Talos into madness rather than curse his mind, while others say she tricked him by promising immortality and then drew out the bronze nail herself, releasing the ichor. A separate, less common tradition credits an Argonaut named Poeas with simply shooting Talos in the ankle with an arrow.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 1.9.26
Who made Talos, and why was he guarding Crete?
Accounts differ on his maker: one tradition credits the smith-god Hephaestus with forging him, while Apollonius describes him as the last survivor of an earlier, vanished race of bronze men rather than something built. Either way, Zeus gave him to Europa, or by another account to King Minos, specifically to guard Crete by circling the island three times daily.
Source: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1693
Why couldn't the Argonauts just fight Talos directly?
His bronze body could not be wounded by ordinary weapons anywhere except the one sealed vein at his ankle, a vulnerability the Argonauts had no way of knowing how to reach or exploit. That is exactly why Medea's magic, rather than force of arms, is what the myth credits with ending the standoff.
Source: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1693
Does Talos connect to the rest of the Argonauts' story?
Yes - his confrontation with the crew happens on the return voyage, after they had already retrieved the Golden Fleece from Colchis, making him one of the last obstacles between the Argonauts and reaching home safely. It is Medea, already central to the Fleece's retrieval, who resolves this final crisis as well.
Source: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1693
Where Accounts Differ
- how Talos died
- who made Talos
- Death mechanism variant: Apollonius has Medea's curse cause Talos to accidentally graze his ankle open on a rock; Apollodorus records alternate traditions in which she drugs him mad or draws out the sealing nail herself, and a separate tradition in which the Argonaut Poeas shoots him with an arrow instead.
- Origin variant: one tradition credits Hephaestus with forging Talos and giving him to Minos; another has Zeus present him directly to Europa as a guardian gift.
Sources
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1693
- Apollodorus, Library 1.9.26
- Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)