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Posted by Janna on June 01, 19101 at 03:11:55:
In Reply to: Talos posted by six on May 28, 19101 at 01:52:12:
Hi Six
Talos was the bronze giant created by Hephaestus the god of smiths as a gift for Minos the King of Crete. The giant protected the island by casting stones at ping ships keeping the pirates which plagued the Aegean Sea at bay.
There is a reference to him in Apollodorus' Library written in the C4th BC
"[the Argonauts] were hindered from touching at Crete by Talos. Some say that he was a man of the Brazen Race, others that he was given to Minos by Hephaestus; he was a brazen man, but some say that he was a bull. He had a single vein extending from his neck to his ankles, and a bronze nail was rammed home at the end of the vein. This Talos kept guard, running round the island thrice every day; wherefore, when he saw the Argo standing inshore, he pelted it as usual with stones. His death was brought about by the wiles of Medea, whether, as some say, she drove him mad by drugs, or, as others say, she promised to make him immortal and then drew out the nail, so that all the ichor gushed out and he died. But some say that Poeas shot him dead in the ankle."
I think from memory there are other references to him in the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius and in Pindar's Odes.
There was another Talos - the nephew of Daedalus (the guy who invented wings and the maze of the Minotaur). Daedalus was said to have thrown him to his death from the Acropolis in Athens because Talos was an even greater inventor than himself. This myth is also related by Apollodorus.
Here are a few more references:
Talos (1) Argonautica 4.1639ff.; Pausanias 8.53.2ff.
Talos (2) Apollodorus 3.15.8; Diodorus Siculus 4.76.4; Pausanias 1.21.4
I hope this is some help.