Also called Talon.
Their story
Talos was a giant man of bronze who circled Crete three times a day, hurling rocks at approaching ships. Some said Hephaestus made him for Minos; others that he was the last of the bronze race. He had a single vein running from neck to ankle, sealed by a bronze nail. When the Argonauts came, Medea bewitched him and he grazed his ankle on a rock, and his life ran out like molten lead.
Best times to give to them
- None traditional
- When reading or retelling the myth
What they like being given
- None are traditional; a small bronze object on the altar recalls him
- A candle lit while reading or retelling the story
How to honour them
- Reflect on how even the strongest defence has one weak point.
- Consider the ethics of machines made to guard and harm.
How they can help you
- Thinking about vulnerability
- Early ideas about machines
Symbols
- bronze body
- single vein
- bronze nail
- boulders
Sources
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1693
- Apollodorus, Library 1.9.26