Calchas
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- = Κάλχας, son of Thestor, the most distinguished seer among the Greeks before Troy, Verg. A. 2, 122; 2, 182; Ov. A. A. 2, 737.
➳ formes de la 1re décl. : gén. æ Prisc. Gramm. 6, 53 ; acc. am Pacuv. et Pl. d. Char. 66, 22 ; abl. a Pl. Men. 748.
(Κάλχας), a son of Thestor of Mycenae or Megara, was the wisest soothsayer among the Greeks at Troy. (Hom. Il. 1.69, &c., 13.70.) He foretold the Greeks the duration of the Trojan war, even before they sailed from Aulis, and while they were engaged in the war he explained to them the cause of the anger of Apollo. (Il. 2.322; Ov. Met. 12.19, &c.; Hyg. Fab. 97; Paus. 1.43.1.) An oracle had declared that Calchas should die if he should meet with a soothsayer superior to himself; and this came to pass at Claros, for Calchas met the famous soothsayer Mopsus in the grove of the Clarian Apollo, and was defeated by him in not being able to state the number of figs on a wild fig-tree, or the number of pigs which a sow was going to give birth to--things which Mopsus told with perfect accuracy. Hereupon, Calchas is said to have died with grief. (Strab. xiv. p.642, &c., 668; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 427, 980.) Another story about his death runs thus : a soothsayer saw Calchas planting some vines in the grove of Apollo near Grynium, and foretold him that he would never drink any of the wine produced by them. When the grapes had grown ripe and wine was made of them, Calchas invited the soothsayer among his other guests. Even at the moment when Calchas held the cup of wine in his hand, the soothsayer repeated his prophecy. This excited Calchas to such a fit of laughter, that he dropped the cup and choked. (Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. 6.72.) A third tradition, lastly, states that, when Calchas disputed with Mopsus the administration of the oracle at Claros, he promised victory to Amphimachus, king of the Lycians, while Mopsus said that he would not be victorious. The latter prophecy was fulfilled; and Calchas, in his grief at this defeat, put an end to his life. (Conon, Narrat. 6.) Respecting the oracle of Calchas in Daunia, see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Oraculum. [L.S]
(Κάλχας). A celebrated soothsayer, son of Thestor. He had received from Apollo the knowledge of future events; and the Greeks, accordingly, on their departure for the Trojan War, nominated him their high-priest and prophet. Among the interpretations of events imputed to him, it is said that he predicted that Troy could not be taken without the aid of Achilles; and that, having observed a serpent, during a solemn sacrifice, glide from under an altar, ascend a tree, and devour nine young birds with their mother, and afterwards become itself changed into stone, he inferred that the siege of Troy would last ten years. He also foretold that the Grecian fleet, which was at that same time detained by contrary winds in the harbour of Aulis, would not be able to sail until Agamemnon should have sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia. Calchas likewise advised Agamemnon, during the pestilence by which Apollo desolated the Grecian camp, to restore Chryseïs to her father, as the only means of appeasing the god. (See Trojan War.) He was consulted, indeed, on every affair of importance, and appears to have often determined, with Agamemnon and Odysseus, the import of the oracles which he expounded. His death is said to have happened as follows. After the taking of Troy, he accompanied Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraüs, to Colophon in Ionia. It had been predicted that he should not die until he found a prophet more skilful than himself: this he experienced in the person of Mopsus. He was unable to tell how many figs were on the branches of a certain fig-tree; and when Mopsus mentioned the exact number Calchas retired to the wood of Claros, sacred to Apollo, where he expired of grief and mortification. Calchas had the patronymic, Thestorides.
- Hdt. 7.51, Paus. 9.19.6
- dwells at Megara: Paus. 1.43.1
- persuaded by Agamemnon to go to Ilium: Paus. 1.43.1
- declares that Troy cannot be taken without Achilles: Apollod. 3.13.7
- interprets the portent of the serpent and the sparrows at Aulis: Apollod. E.3.13
- confirms the directions of Telephus: Apollod. E.3.20
- directs sacrifice of Iphigenia: Apollod. E.3.20, Paus. 9.19.6
- prophesies that Troy cannot be taken without the bow of Herakles: Apollod. E.5.7, Apollod. E.5.8
- declares Athena angry on account of the impiety of Ajax: Apollod. E.5.23
- wanders after capture of Ilium: Paus. 7.3.7
- defeated in a contest of skill with Mopsus, dies and is buried in Notium: Apollod. E.5.23, Apollod. E.6.3