Augē

In Greek mythology, Auge a daughter of Aleus and Neaera and priestess of Athena at Tegea, bore the hero Telephos to Heracles. Her father had been told by an oracle that he would be overthrown by his grandson.^[1] She secreted the baby in the temple of Athena. A scarcity alerted Aleus that there was a profanation of the temple, and he discovered the child. Auge was given to Nauplius ("sailor") who was to kill her, but who, taking pity, brought her to Teuthas, a king in Mysia. The baby was exposed on Mount Parthenion above Tegea, where Telephos was suckled by a deer (Bibliotheke 2.7.4; 3.9.1).

Alternatively, Auge and Telephus were put in a crate and set adrift on the sea.^[2] They washed up in Mysia in Asia Minor, where Telephos later appeared in his wanderings; mother and son were about to consummate their marriage when they were parted by a thunderbolt.

In the time of Pausanias (second century CE), her tomb was still shown at Pergamon (Pausanias 8.4.6), where the Attalids venerated Telephos as a founding hero.

According to Hyginus^[3] another Auge is one of the Horae, presiding over the first light of the day.

Notes

References

• William Smith Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 1, p 419 (On-line text)
• Seyffert, Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (On-line text, sub "Telephus")

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