In Greek mythology, Telephus (/ˈtɛlᵻfəs/; Greek: Τήλεφος, Tēlephos, "far-shining") was the son of Heracles and Auge, daughter of king Aleus of Tegea; and the father of Eurypylus. He was intended to be king of Tegea, but instead became the king of Mysia in Asia Minor. He was wounded by the Achaeans when they were coming to sack Troy and bring back Helen to Sparta.
Aleus, king in Tegea and father of Auge, had been told by an oracle that he would be overthrown by his grandson. So, according to varying myths, he forced Auge to become a virginal priestess of Athena Alea, in which condition she was violated by Heracles. Although the infant Telephus was hidden in the temple, his cries revealed his presence and Aleus ordered the child exposed on Mt. Parthenion, the "mountain of the Virgin". The child was suckled by a deer through the agency of Heracles, although the Pergamon Altar depicts Telephus being suckled by a lion. Alternatively, Aleus put Auge and the baby in a crate that was set adrift on the sea and washed up on the coast of Mysia in Asia Minor. Alternatively, Aleus exposed Telephus and sold Auge into slavery; she was thereby given as a gift to King Teuthras.