TELEMACHUS  , in

Greek legend (Odyssey i.–iv., xv.–xxiv.; Hyginus, Fab . 127), son of Odysseus and Penelope . When he reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta to make inquiries about his father, who had been absent for nearly twenty years . On his return, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him . Then father and son, aided by Eumaeus and Philoetius, slew or drove out the suitors of Penelope (see ODYSSEUS) . According to later tradition, Telemachus became the husband of Circe and by her the father of Latinus and of a daughter Roma, afterwards the wife of Aeneas . In another story, he married a daughter of Circe, named Cassiphone; having slain his mother-in-law in a quarrel, he was himself killed by his wife . This is the only notice of the death of Telemachus . The foundation of Clusium in Etruria was attributed to him .