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The soothsayer of the expedition, Calchas, took the land road with Amphilocus, Leonteus, Podalirius and Polypoetes. He died after reaching Colophon, following a contest of prophecies from which Mopsus, son of Apollo and Manto, emerged victorious. Indeed, an oracle had announced that he would die when he meets a more learned soothsayer than himself.
From the genealogy of Calchas, “purple”, we only know the name of his father Thestor: “rectitude or sincerity developing inside.”
We should remember that he represents an “out of time” state of consciousness because “he knows the future, the present and the past.” This state is the result of a purified vital and closeness with the psychic being – for this soothsayer got his gift from Apollo – which brings capacities of perception through the subtle senses.
The seeker who approaches the new yoga can no longer rely on intuitive and perceptual means that supported him throughout the reversal phase, because they are insufficient for the yoga of the body. He must replace them with a perception derived directly from the psychic light that confers accuracy on all planes, allied to a divinatory capacity resulting from great purification (Mopsus is the son of Apollo and Manto, herself daughter of the soothsayer Tiresias who officiates in Thebes, the city of “purification”).
Those who accompanied Calchas returned safely, as they represent movements that can continue in the new yoga:
– Amphilocus “who develops a powerful attention.” He is the grandson of the soothsayer Amphiaraos “who approaches the just perception” and of Eriphyle “a great quality of presence.” He is the son of Alcmaeon, “powerful consecration”, one of the Epigones who led the second expedition against Thebes. His mother is Manto “who makes oracles”, daughter of the soothsayer Tiresias.
– Podalirius “who works to purify the incarnation.” He is a healer, son of Asclepius (roman Aesculapius). He treated Philoctetes and then settled down as a doctor. He symbolizes the practice of a yoga of purification that focuses on the “unity” of the being, (he practices holistic medicine), unlike his brother, Machaon, who, as a surgeon, works by breaking up the being (for he is the one who “slices”). The latter had logically been killed in Troy by Eurypylus “a vast door”, the son of Telephus “who shines in the distance”.
– Polypoetes “many achievements in the mind”, son of Pirithoos “who experiments quickly” and a namesake of Hippodamia “mastery of the vital”.
– Leonteus, “the lion”, is here a symbol of courage because his father would be Coronos “the coronation”.
The last three (as well as the uncle of the first, a namesake of Amphilocus) are among the suitors of Helen’s hand – all symbols of yogas which the seeker once considered as major evolutionary possibilities towards the Truth – in the group of Achaean leaders against Troy and among those who hid in the wooden horse.
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