36°32′32″N22°23′20″E / 36.5422487°N 22.3888904°E /36.5422487; 22.3888904Telepylos orTelepylus (Ancient Greek:ΤηλέπυλοςTēlépylos, meaning "far-off port"[1] or "big-gated"[2]) was the mythological city of theLaestrygonians.
In theOdyssey it is described as the rocky stronghold ofLamos. When Odysseus reaches the city in theOdyssey, he sends three scouts to explore the island. They come across the king, a giant cannibal, who then eats one of the men, causing the other scouts to run away. Most of Odysseus' men are killed in the incident, but his boat is moored outside the Laestrygonians' harbour. He is able to sail away, without the bombardment of rocks received by the rest of the fleet who did moor within the harbour. Only forty-five men escape.
It has been identified withMezapo, located on theMani Peninsula. Iman Jacob Wilkens makes a less likely identification: the harbour ofHavana,Cuba, believing that Ulysses had in fact crossed theAtlantic Ocean.[3]
The harbour, about which on both sides a sheer cliff runs continuously, and projecting headlands opposite to one another stretch out at the mouth, and the entrance is narrow, ..., and the ships were moored within the hollow harbour, for therein no wave ever swelled, great or small, but all about was a bright calm...[4]
In Greek mythology, the name Telepylos is mentioned in the Odyssey (k 82, ps 318) the city or country of the Laistrygons ("laistrygonii"). The name (tēlē, "far";pulos, "door"), perhaps according to some authors has the meaning of "eurypylos, megalopylos", or "macropylos" (Eustathius: "at a distance from each other, but next to the doors or at the length " ). In the view of the later ancient Greeks (e.g.Thucydides, 6.2), Telepilos was located inSicily, while the Romans believed it to be located in mainland Italy, inFormia ( today Mola di Gaeta). The significant Laestrygonian associations with theTalayotic culture or pre-Talayotic culture inBalearic Islands have recently been admitted, and the description indicates perhaps an early build of the port ofMahón.Jasen Boko establishesOmiš as the most probable location, for its unique landscape that corresponds to the verses.[5]
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