Telegony (pregnancy)

Telegony is a theory in heredity, holding that offspring can inherit the characteristics of a previous mate of the female parent; thus the child of a widowed or remarried woman might partake of traits of a previous husband. Experiments on several species failed to provide any evidence that offspring would inherit any character from their mother's previous mates. A similar phenomenon, whereby environmental (non-genetic) traits were passed, was later discovered in a species of fly.

The term was coined by August Weismann from the Greek words (tèle) meaning 'far' and (gonos) meaning 'offspring'. The name may also refer to Odysseus' son Telegonus; the lost poem named after him is Telegony.

The idea of telegony goes back to Aristotle. It states that individuals can inherit traits not only from their fathers, but also from other males previously known to their mothers. in other words, fatherhood is not indivisible: paternity can be partitioned.

The theory, expounded as natural history by Aristotle, was accepted throughout Antiquity. The concept of telegonic impregnation was expressed in Greek mythology in the origins of their heroes. Such double fatherhood, one immortal, one mortal, was a familiar feature of heroes such as Theseus, who was doubly conceived in the same night. By the understanding of sex in Antiquity, the mix of semen gave Theseus a combination of divine as well as mortal characteristics. Of a supposed Parnassos, founder of Delphi, Pausanias observes, "Like the other heroes, as they are called, he had two fathers; one they say was the god Poseidon, the human father being Cleopompus." Sometimes the result could be twins such as Castor and Pollux, one born divine and one mortal.

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