Telchines
Greek minor gods, original inhabitants of Rhodes
In Greek mythology, the Telchines (Ancient Greek: Τελχῖνες, romanized: Telkhines) were the original inhabitants of the island of Rhodes and were known in Crete and Cyprus.
Family
Their parents were either Pontus and Gaia or Tartarus and Nemesis or else they were born from the blood of castrated Uranus, along with the Erinyes. According to Diodorus Siculus, the Telchines were the offspring of Thalassa. They had flippers instead of hands and the heads of dogs and were known as fish children. In some accounts, Poseidon was described as the Telchines' father.
Names
The following individual names are attested in various sources: Damon (Demonax); Mylas; Atabyrius; Antaeus (Actaeus), Megalesius, Ormenos (Hormenus), Lycus, Nicon and Mimon; Chryson, Argyron and Chalcon. Known female Telchines were Makelo, Dexithea (one of Damon's daughters), Halia and probably Lysagora (the attesting text is severely damaged).
Roles
Ministers of gods
The Telchines were regarded as the cultivators of the soil and ministers of the gods and as such they came from Crete to Cyprus and from thence to Rhodes or they proceeded from Rhodes to Crete and Boeotia. Rhodes, and in it the three towns of Cameirus, Ialysos, and Lindos (whence the Telchines are called Ialysii), which was their principal seat and was named after them Telchinis (Sicyon also was called Telchinia) and by some accounts, their children were highly worshiped as gods in the said three ancient Rhodian towns. The Telchines abandoned their homes because they foresaw that the island would be inundated and thence they scattered in different directions; Lycus went to Lycia, where he built the temple of the Lycian Apollo.
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