Character Sketch Of Telemachus's Life

Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope which makes him the grandson of Laertes and Anticleia. Telemachus was only a small baby when Odysseus left for troy. He does not have a lot of confidence which makes it hard to go against the suitors that are courting his mom Penelope. Throughout the story there are many incidents that Telemachus begins to emerge into an adult. He is still a young boy at the beginning of the story however he is at the age of becoming a mature adult. Since his father was not around when he was a child because he went to fight in the Trojan War, Telemachus did not have a strong father figure in the times he needed one. A Bildungsroman is often described as a story in which a child emerges into adulthood and there are many instances in which Telemachus shows how he is growing

Telemachus is not mature and acts very much like a child until he and Athena talk to each other. He was not holding up the title of being the man in the house and he did not have the courage or confidence to stand up to the suitors in the house. Anyhow, once Athena gets to him he starts to clean up his act and realize that he needs to grow up. Athena explained to him the proper ways of doing things and she teaches him how to keep up with the responsibilities of being a young adult. The first thing she does to help Telemachus is tells him that he should get a crew together and a good ship. He then starts to plan out his journey to find his dad, Odysseus. He needs to find out if his dad is still alive and where he is so that he can bring him back home to avoid one of the worthless suitors. Realizing that one of the suitors could marry his mother, something clicks in Telemachus’ head that he needs to do something. This helps him grow up and mature a significant amount because he is starting to realize that is not how he should