| Calchas Thestorides Κάλχας Θεστορίδης | |
|---|---|
| Trojan War character | |
 Calchas presides at the sacrifice ofIphigeneia, the daughter ofAgamemnon, as the divine price of the winds required to carry the fleet to Troy, in aperistyle fresco fromPompeii. | |
| First appearance |
|
| Created by | Homer and his school |
| Based on | Character from a traditional story of the Trojan War |
| Adapted by | Greek oral poets presenting the story in poetry contests at festivals |
| In-universe information | |
| Title | Guide |
| Occupation | Seer, Greek Mantis, in the sense of one who knows the divine will.[1] |
| Affiliation | Achaean army |
| Origin | Argos in the Peloponnesus |
| Nationality | Achaean |
Calchas (/ˈkælkəs/;Ancient Greek:Κάλχας,Kalkhas) is anArgive mantis, or "seer" inGreek mythology. Calchas appears in the opening scenes of theIliad, which isbelieved to have been based on awar conducted by the Achaeans against the powerful city ofTroy in theLate Bronze Age.
A seer in the service of the Greek forces, Calchas is portrayed as a skilled augur, Greekoinópolos ('bird-savant'): "as an augur, Calchas had no rival in the camp."[2] He had received knowledge of the past, present, and future from the god,Apollo. He had other mantic skills as well:interpreting the entrails of the enemy during the tide of battle.[3] Hismantosune, as it is called in theIliad, is the hereditary occupation of his family, which accounts for the most credibleetymology of his name: “the dark one” in the sense of “ponderer,” based on the resemblance of pondering to melancholy, or being “blue.”[4] Calchas has a long literary history after Homer. In the legendary time of theIliad, seers and divination are already long-standing.
Calchas was described by the chroniclerMalalas in his account of theChronography as "short, white, all grey, including the beard, hairy, a very fine seer and omen-reader".[5]
Calchas was the son ofPolymele andThestor; grandson of the seerIdmon;[6] and brother ofLeucippe,Theonoe, andTheoclymenus.[7]
It was Calchas whoprophesied that in order to gain a favourable wind to deploy the Greek ships mustered inAulis on their way toTroy,Agamemnon would need to sacrifice his daughter,Iphigeneia, to appeaseArtemis, whom Agamemnon had offended. The episode was related at length in the lostCypria, of theEpic Cycle. He also states that Troy will be sacked on the tenth year of the war.[8]
In Sophocles'Ajax, Calchas delivers a prophecy toTeucer suggesting that the protagonist will die if he leaves his tent before the day is out.
In theIliad, Calchas' most powerful skeptic isAgamemnon himself. Before the events of theIliad, at the beginning of the expedition, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughterIphigenia to receive favorable sailing winds. At the beginning of theIliad Calchas delivers another blow to him.
In open assembly, Calchas prophesied that the captiveChryseis, a spoil of war awarded to Agamemnon, must be returned to her fatherChryses in order to propitiateApollo into lifting the plague he sent as punishment for Agamemnon's disrespect of Chryses, Apollo's priest. Agamemnon exploded in anger and called the prophet a "visionary of hell" (Fitzgerald translation) and accused Calchas of rendering unfair prophecies. Fearing Agamemnon, Calchas had already secured a champion in Achilles, who spoke against Agamemnon in heated terms in assembly. Agamemnon grudgingly accepted the edict of Apollo (supported by the Assembly) that he give up his prize, but, as an insult to Achilles, threatens to take Achilles’ own female prize as recompense. There follows "the wrath of Achilles," part righteous anger, part galling resentment over the unjustified overreaching of Agamemnon, part love for his war bride. This dispute is a central focus of the epic.
Later in the story,Poseidon assumes the form of Calchas in order to rouse and empower the Greek forces whileZeus is not observing the battle.
Calchas also plays a role inQuintus of Smyrna'sPosthomerica. Calchas said that if they were brief, they could convince Achilles to fight. It is he rather thanHelenus (as suggested in Sophocles'Philoctetes) that predicts that Troy will only fall once the Argives are able to recruit Philoctetes.[9] It is by his advice that they halt the battle, even thoughNeoptolemus is slaughtering the Trojans. He also tells the Argives that the city is more easily taken by strategy than by force. He endorsesOdysseus' suggestion that theTrojan Horse will effectively infiltrate the Trojans. He also foresees thatAeneas will survive the battle and found the city, and tells the Argives that they will not kill him. He did not join the Argives when they boarded the ships, as he foresaw the impending doom of theKapherean Rocks.[10]
In medieval and later versions of the myth, Calchas is portrayed as a Trojan defector and the father of Chryseis, now calledCressida.
Calchas is a character inWilliam Shakespeare's playTroilus and Cressida.
Calchas died of shame atColophon in Asia Minor shortly after theTrojan War (as told in the CyclicNostoi andMelampodia): the prophetMopsus beat him in a contest of soothsaying,[11] althoughStrabo[12] placed an oracle of Calchas onMonte Gargano inMagna Graecia.
It is also said that Calchasdied of laughter when he thought another seer had incorrectly predicted his death. This seer had foretold Calchas would never drink from the wine produced from vines he had planted himself; Calchas made the wine, but holding the cup he died of laughter, before he could inform them they had drunk it the previous night.[13]
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