In Greek mythology, Tiphys (; Ancient Greece: Τῖφυς Tîphus) was the helmsman of the Argonauts.[Apollodorus, 1.9.16; Orphic Argonautica 490; Hyginus, Fabulae 14.2 & 14.5; Pausanias, 9.32.4]
Family
Tiphys was the
Thespiae son of
Hagnias[Apollonius of Rhodes, 1.105, 1.560, 1.296, 1.557 & 2.854; Apollodorus, 1.9.16; Orphic Argonautica 113 ff., 540 & 680 ff.; Valerius Flaccus, 1.482] or of Phorbas of Elis and
Hyrmine, daughter of
Epeius.
[Hyginus, Fabulae 14] In the latter account, he was possibly the brother of
Augeas[Apollodorus, 2.5.5] and Actor.
[Pausanias, 5.1.11]
Mythology
Pilot of Argo
Among his crew members, Tiphys was chosen to steer the long ship Argo.
Apollonius' account
- Tiphys, son of Hagnias, left the people of the Thespians, well skilled to foretell the rising wave on the broad sea, and well skilled to infer from sun and star the stormy winds and the time for sailing. Lake Tritonis Athena herself urged him to join the band of chiefs, and he came among them a welcome comrade.
[Apollonius of Rhodes, 1.105 ff. ]
Valerius' account
. . . Tiphys without fear trust to rule the vessel and to watch the heavens, when weary-eyed with ceaseless gazing on the bear.[Valerius Flaccus, 1.418–419 ] | |
The watchful Tiphys, Hagnius’ son, hung his gaze upon the Arcadian constellation, favoured mortal, that found use for the laggard stars, and giving men power to steer their path across the sea with heaven as their guide.[Valerius Flaccus, 1.481–484 ] | |
Tiphys is at the helm, and silently his helpers sit to do his bidding; even as by the throne of highest Jupiter all things are round about him alert and ready for the god, winds, showers, lightning, thunder, and rivers still in their springs.[Valerius Flaccus, 1.689–93 ] | |
Statius' account
- Tiphys himself wearies by his labours the heavy billows and the tiller that will not hear him, and pale with anxiety oft changes his commands, and turns right- and leftward from the land the prow that would fain dash itself to shipwreck on the rocks, until from the vessel's tapering bows the son of Aeson holds forth the olive-branch of Pallas hat Mopsus bore, and through the tumult of his comrades would prevent him, asks for peace; his words were swept away by the headlong gale.
[Statius, Thebaid 5.412–421 ]
Orphic Argonautica
- He (Tiphys) left the Thespians to work on the waters of Teumessus near the mountain of poplars. He knew the painstaking art of discerning from the bellowing and flashing of storms when and how to guide the ship.
[ Orphic Argonautica 113 ff. ]
Death
During the voyage to
Colchis, Tiphys died of a mysterious illness in the land of the
[Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.854 ff.; Apollodorus, 1.9.23; Orphic Argonautica 723 ff.; Hyginus, Fabulae 14; Valerius Flaccus, 5.15 ff.] or, according to some sources, a snakebite. After his death, Ancaeus piloted the
Argo.
[Apollodorus, 1.9.23]
Notes
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Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at theio.com.
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Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
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Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
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Statius , The Thebaid translated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Publius Papinius Statius, The Thebaid. Vol I-II. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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The Orphic Argonautica, translated by Jason Colavito. © Copyright 2011. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
