Calchas in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Calchas

23 passages from 8 ancient authors that tell of Calchas, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Calchas was a seer in Greek mythology, son of Thestor, able to see future events based on how the birds flew. His ability was a gift by the oracular g... For the story in one place, read our article on Calchas.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Fragments 4.1–8MelampodiaThe Melampodia, a poem about seers, is quoted for the contest of Calchas and Mopsus, in which Calchas fails to count the figs on a wild fig-tree. Other fragments cover Teiresias, who was blinded by Hera and made a seer by Zeus, and the death of Amphilochus at Soli.

Homer (3)

Homer, Iliad 1.68–187Calchas and the quarrel of Achilles and AgamemnonThe seer Calchas asks for protection if he is to explain the plague, and Achilles swears that no one will harm him. Calchas says that Apollo is angry because Agamemnon dishonoured his priest Chryses, and Agamemnon agrees to give back the girl but demands another prize in her place. Achilles replies that the army has no common store to pay him from, and Agamemnon threatens to take Achilles' own prize, Briseis.
Homer, Iliad 2.278–393The omen of the sparrows; Nestor's counselOdysseus reminds the army of the omen at Aulis, where a serpent devoured eight sparrow chicks and their mother and was then turned to stone, which Calchas read as a sign that Troy would fall in the tenth year. Nestor rebukes the men for forgetting their oaths and tells Agamemnon to marshal them by tribes and clans. Agamemnon agrees, wishes he had ten counsellors like Nestor, and tells the men to eat and sharpen their weapons for battle.
Homer, Iliad 13.1–125Poseidon rouses the two AjaxesZeus turns his eyes away from the ships, and Poseidon, watching from Samothrace, goes down and drives his horses across the sea to the Achaean camp. In the likeness of Calchas he strikes the two Ajaxes with his staff and fills them with strength, and then goes through the host rousing the weary and the wounded. He tells the Achaeans that Hector has broken the gates and is fighting at the ships, and urges them to hold.

Apollodorus (3)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.6.1–29The returns from Troy: Nauplius, Agamemnon's murder and OrestesThe Greeks quarrel at an assembly over whether to leave at once, and the section follows the returns: Calchas and Mopsus at Colophon, the storm at Tenos in which Ajax dies, Nauplius's false beacon at Caphereus, Neoptolemus in Molossia, and the fates of Demophon and Phyllis, Podalirius and the Locrian maidens. Agamemnon is murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, and Orestes avenges him, is tried at Athens, and brings the image of Artemis from the Taurians. The section ends with Menelaus's wanderings and his return to Sparta.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.13.1–8Peleus, Thetis and the youth of AchillesPeleus flees to Phthia and is purified, kills Eurytion by accident in the Calydonian hunt, and escapes the plots of Astydamia, wife of Acastus. With help from Chiron he wins Thetis, who tries to make their son Achilles immortal in the fire. When Calchas declares that Troy cannot be taken without Achilles, Thetis hides him among the daughters of Lycomedes, where Odysseus finds him; Phoenix and Patroclus join him.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.5.1–23The death of Achilles, the Wooden Horse and the fall of TroyPenthesilea and then Memnon come to Troy's aid and are killed by Achilles, who is himself shot by Paris and Apollo. The contest for Achilles' arms drives Ajax to madness and suicide. Troy falls after Philoctetes shoots Paris, Helenus reveals the three conditions, Neoptolemus joins the army and Odysseus steals the Palladium, and the Greeks take the city with the Wooden Horse, Sinon and the beacon at Tenedos; the section closes with the sack, the deaths of Astyanax and Polyxena, and the division of the captives.

Aeschylus (1)

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 40–175Parodos (1): the army sails and the omen of the eaglesThe Chorus of old men of Argos recall that it is now the tenth year since Menelaus and Agamemnon sailed against Troy, and say that they are too old to fight and wait at home. They ask Clytaemestra why sacrifices are burning on every altar, then tell of the omen seen as the army set out, two eagles devouring a pregnant hare. They tell how the seer Calchas read it as the capture of Troy and warned that Artemis was angry, and they pray that she will not hold back the fleet with contrary winds.

Sophocles (1)

Sophocles, Ajax 693–814Second stasimon: the sailors' joy; the Messenger's warningThe Chorus sing a joyful song to Pan, thinking that Ajax's trouble is over. A Messenger arrives from Teucer, whom the army has been abusing, and tells them that the seer Calchas has said that Ajax must be kept in his tent that day, since Athena's wrath will last only that day, and that if he goes out he will die. Tecmessa and the Chorus rush out to search for him.

Euripides (8)

Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1532–1629Exodos: the messenger reports the sacrifice and the substituted deerA messenger calls Clytemnestra out of the tent to hear a strange and marvellous story about her child. He tells how Iphigenia was led to the grove of Artemis and offered herself bravely, how Calchas laid his sword in the golden basket and Achilles ran round the altar with the lustral water. At the moment of the blow the maiden vanished and a great deer lay dead in her place, and Agamemnon then confirms that Iphigenia has gone to the gods.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 492–532Second episode: Iphigenia questions Orestes about GreeceIphigenia asks which of the two is named Pylades, and Orestes says that the other is, and that they are friends, not brothers. Orestes refuses to give his own name, but says that he comes from Mycenae. She asks about Troy, Helen and Menelaus, and learns that Calchas is dead.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 628–673Second episode: Iphigenia goes for the letter; Orestes notices her interest in ArgosIphigenia answers that the sister Orestes wishes for is far away, but promises to set ornaments on his tomb and pour oil and honey on his pyre. She tells the attendants to guard the strangers without chains, and goes to fetch the letter, while the Chorus laments for them. Orestes asks Pylades whether he too has noticed how like a Greek the girl is, and how she questioned him about Troy, Calchas and Agamemnon.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 49–104Prologue: Agamemnon explains the oath, the delay and Calchas' demandAgamemnon tells how Tyndareus made the suitors of Helen swear an oath to defend her husband, and how she chose Menelaus before Paris came and carried her off. He tells how the Greek army gathered at Aulis and was weatherbound, and how the seer Calchas said that his own daughter Iphigenia must be sacrificed to Artemis. Menelaus persuaded him to write to his wife, summoning the girl on the pretence of a wedding with Achilles.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 473–527First episode: Menelaus relents but Agamemnon fears the armyMenelaus swears by Pelops and Atreus that he will speak the truth, says that the sight of his brother in tears has made him pity him, and withdraws his former demands, asking whether he could not find another bride. The Chorus Leader calls it a generous speech, and Agamemnon thanks him. Agamemnon answers that the whole army will force him to the sacrifice, once Calchas and Odysseus reveal the oracle.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 528–589First episode: Agamemnon fears Odysseus and the army; choral song on AphroditeAgamemnon says that Odysseus will arise among the Argives and tell them the oracles of Calchas, and that the army will then slay him and the girl. He asks Menelaus to keep Clytemnestra from learning of the plan. The Chorus sings that the happy are those who share in Aphrodite's gifts with self-restraint, and recalls Paris piping on the reeds among the heifers of Ida.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 857–899Third episode: the old servant reveals Agamemnon's planThe old servant calls through the half-opened door, and, speaking to Achilles and Clytemnestra alone, tells them that Agamemnon is about to slay his daughter, at the order of Calchas, so that the army can sail for Troy. He says that the marriage was only an inducement, and that he had started to carry a letter forbidding the sacrifice, which Menelaus took from him.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1255–1335Fourth episode: Agamemnon says the army leaves him no choice; Iphigenia lamentsAgamemnon says that he understands what should move his pity, but that he must sacrifice her, since the army, on the word of Calchas, will slay her and them if he disobeys, and it is Hellas that he must serve. Clytemnestra cries out that he has abandoned his daughter to Hades. Iphigenia laments, curses the herdsman Alexander who was reared on Ida, and blames Helen and the winds at Aulis.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.1–63The Greeks at Aulis; the House of FamePriam mourns for Aesacus, not knowing that he lives on as a bird, while Paris, who was absent, returns with Helen and a thousand ships. The Greek fleet gathers at Aulis, where a snake devours eight sparrows and their mother and is turned to stone, and Calchas reads the omen as meaning ten years of war. The ships are held by contrary winds until Iphigenia is brought to the altar, but Artemis (Diana) puts a hind in her place and carries her away. The poet then describes the House of Fame, where all the rumours of the world are heard.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (5)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 12.1–116Odysseus plans the Wooden HorseCalchas assembles the chiefs and tells of a falcon that waited in vain by the cleft in the rock where a dove had hidden. Odysseus proposes building a great horse in which the best of the Argives will hide. Neoptolemus objects, but Zeus's thunderbolt falls, and Athena appears to Epeius in a dream and tells him to build.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 6.1–115Calchas sends for NeoptolemusAt an assembly Menelaus laments the slain and proposes that the Argives sail home. Calchas answers that victory is at hand and that Tydeus' son and Odysseus must fetch Achilles' son from Scyros. Menelaus asks Odysseus to go, and the assembly breaks up for its meal.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 9.321–443Philoctetes on LemnosOn Calchas' advice the Argives draw back, for Troy cannot fall until Philoctetes comes. Diomedes and Odysseus sail to Lemnos and find him in his cave, wounded and clothed in feathers. He aims at them with his bow, and then they win him over and carry him to the ship.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.297–414Aeneas escapes; Menelaus and HelenAeneas, seeing Troy burning, carries his father Anchises on his shoulders and leads his son out through the fire, guided by Aphrodite. Calchas tells the Argives to spare him because he is fated to found a great city by the Tiber. Menelaus kills Deiphobus in Helen's chamber and finds Helen, but Aphrodite strikes the sword from his hand and fills him with love, and his brother urges him not to kill her.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.329–418The fleet sails from TroyNestor tells the Argives that the time to go home has come, and they prepare the ships. Hecuba is turned into a hound and then into stone, and the ships are loaded with spoil and captives. The fleet passes Tenedos, Lesbos and Ida's last headland, while the surviving Trojans burn their dead.