As we see changes in Telemachus and his character, which can be seen in Homer’s Odyssey, the reader will see growth from the beginning to the end of the epic. For in the beginning of the epic, Homer describes Telemachus as “Prince Telemachus, siting among the suitors, heart obsessed with grief.” (1.132-133). It may seem that Telemachus is grieving for his father, but he is actually grieving for his own life and how he is in a room full of people who want to marry his mother. This makes him feel worthless and he has no purpose. However Telemachus has many qualities and shows many themes that give him a purpose and give him power.
In the beginning of the Odyssey Telemachus has an encounter with the goddess Athena in which he says, “Greetings, stranger! Here in our house you’ll find a royal welcome. Have supper first, then tell us what you need.” (1.144-146). In this quote it may seem that Telemachus is just simply showing hospitality to Athena being nice. However Telemachus doesn’t know that the stranger he sees is Athena, because she is in guise before him. Regardless of the fact that his house is infested with suitors, he feels the need to show that he is the master of the house by being hostile to the stranger. Therefore
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by showing hospitality to Athena he proves himself as king of Ithaca. By realizing that he is technically the king of Ithaca he also registers that he has power over the suitors, in which he states to them, “Yo should be ashamed yourselves, mortified in the face of neighbors living round about! […] Filled with anger, down on the ground he dashed the speaker’s scepter”(2.69-87). The scepter in Greece is a symbol of power, and by Telemachus smashing it; he is showing that he doesn’t need this scepter because he has power over everyone here. By destroying a symbol of power, Telemachus shows that he is the rightful king of Ithaca. A point in the epic where Telemachus claims the throne over his father is when a bard is singing a tune that is either about Odysseus or reminds Penelope of him in, which brings Penelope to saying “But break off this song-the unendurable song that always rends the heart inside me” (1.392-393) which brings Telemachus to saying “Why, mother, […] why deny our devoted bard the chance to entertain us any way the spirit stirs him on” (1.
396-399) One might think that Telemachus is just enjoying the tune and doesn’t want his mother to end it, but he may not realize it, but he is casting Odysseus out of his life and killing him. He does this by ignoring his mother’s request to mourn for his father and proving that he is now king over
Odysseus. Towards the end of the Odyssey, when Odysseus returns home, he has a reunion with Telemachus, which is actually one of the first conversations they have together. However Athena had disguised Odysseus as a beggar while Telemachus doesn’t even know what his father looks like, so after Athena reveals that he is Odysseus, Telemachus has this reaction “this must be some god and he let fly with a burst of exclamations[…] surely you are some od who rules the vaulting skies!”(16.204-208). This quote shows what Telemachus has been through. After all, he does find out that the suitors have plans to kill him which gives Telemachus trust issues and brings him to say, “No, you’re not Odysseus! Not my father! Just some spirit spellbinding me now-to make me ache with sorrow all the more.”(16.220-222). It may seem that Telemachus is showing skepticism, but he is actually turning into Odysseus. By turning into Odysseus he shows that be his fathers values are important and therefore brings him back after killing him. Whenever Odysseus meets a divine spirit he goes through three stages that only Odysseus seems to follow, fear, skepticism, and acceptance. This can be shown in Odysseus’ encounter with the nymph Lucathea “Here take this scarf, tie it around your waist it is immortal”(5.381-382) which brings Odysseus to say to her “I won’t. Not yet. That shore’s too far away”(5.395-396). This is an example of Odysseus’s skepticism, which Telemachus is picking up, there fore becoming Odysseus. It may seem that Telemachus is one with his father and contains many similar characteristics and believes, however in the end of the epic when Laertes says to his son and grandson “What joy my son and my grandson vying over courage” (24.566-567) Laertes is showing us that both his grandson and son a very similar to the fact that they are arguing who is the better solider. The statement proves that both of our heroes are similar, however even though Telemachus takes after his father in the end of the epic, he started out different and went though characteristic changes. Telemachus proved to the readers that he isn’t just a supporting character, he is a character with strong characteristics.
At the beginning of the book Telemakhos is troubled with the suitors trying to marry his mother. He tries to keep them in line but they are rampant, especially when they're drunk. They kill Odysseus's herd for their own feedings and disrespect the house of Odysseus. So Telemakhos is obliged to search for his father because he is his last and only hope of keeping the suitors away. He is determined to search for his father and must find him at all costs. When Odysseus is stuck on the island of Kalypso, Athena had obliged him to leave the island in search of his home, Ithaka. She tells him of the memories he had there and he remembered how much he had longed for Ithaka. So he was determined to get home. Just like how Telemakhos was determined to find his father. They were destined by the gods to come together. In book 16, it talks about Telemakhos and his father talking to each other planning how they were going to take over the suitors. They talked and talked and were happy to see each other.
At Odysseus’ house Penelope and Telemachus are dealing with president suitors that wish to wed Penelope, however no matter how much Telemachus tries to get rid of them, “You should be ashamed yourselves...I beg you by Zeus, by Themis too...leave me alone to pine away in anguish.” (p.95 70-75), Telemachus is pretty desperate to get rid of the suitors because they are intruding on his house and making a mess. Penelope has become sullen since her husband has been missing for
In Odyssey, Homer creates a parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos, father and son. The two are compared in the poem from every aspect. One parallel was the quest of Telemachos, in correlation with the journey of his father. In this, Odysseus is developed from a childish, passive, and untested boy, to a young man preparing to stand by his father's side. This is directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that they both lead to the same finale, and are both stepping-stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship.
At some point in their life, many people experience feelings of inadequacy or uncertainty. In “The Odyssey” by Homer, one of the main characters Telemachus experiences both of these feelings. He feels that he is not good enough, especially compared to his father, Odysseus, who many people refer to as a great leader. In the beginning of “The Odyssey”, Telemachus’ home has been taken over by suitors, each with the goal of winning over his mother, in hopes to marry her and become king. Telemachus is not fond of these men in his home, but does not have the confidence to get rid of them. Lastly, at this point in the story, Odysseus, Telemachus’ father, has been gone for approximately twenty years, most of Telemachus’ life. Telemachus has been
Throughout the last books of The Odyssey Homer tells us how Odysseus restores his relationships with his friends and relatives at Ithaca. Perhaps one of the most revealing of these restoration episodes is Odysseus' re-encounter with his son, Telemachus. This re-encounter serves three main purposes. First, it serves to portray Telemachus' likeness to his father in the virtues of prudence, humility, patience, and planning. Secondly, it is Odysseus' chance to teach his son to be as great a ruler as Odysseus himself is. Lastly, Homer uses this re-encounter to emphasize the importance of a family structure to a society. To be able to understand the impact that this meeting had on Odysseus it is necessary to see that Telemachus has grown since his first appearances in the poem and obviously since his last contact with his father; Odysseus left Telemachus as an infant now their relationship is a man to man relationship rather than a man to child relationship.
...te, the king and queen of the Phaecians, for two days. On the second day, Odysseus grew impatient of the kind hospitality he was given, and begged to continue on his journey home. This reveals the determination of Odysseus and Telemachus to complete their respective journeys.
Telemachus demonstrates his new maturity when he explains his plan if he discovers his father is dead. “I can come back to my own dear country/ and raise a mound for him, and burn his gear,/ with all the funeral honors that benefit him,/ and give my mother a husband”(2.231-234). Telemachus changes because of the responsibility that he is taking on and the mature decision that he is prepared to make. Telemachus also exemplifies this step into manhood when he acknowledges that he must find a way to overcome his obstacle of the suitors. He takes on the quest to find his father, which is important to him. If he fails to fulfill his responsibility to his mother, he has to face the consequences of losing her to one of the suitors. Telemachus maturely discusses his request of the suitors’ departure with the main suitor. “After the death of King Odysseus./All I insist on is that I rule over our house/ and rule the slaves that my father won for me”(1.447-449). Telemachus is calmly asks if he can take responsibility for the house if his father is dead. His ability to discuss his problems instead of resorting to immediate violence indicates he is changing. His readiness and persistence after he is denied is
The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus and his both literal and figurative journey home to Ithaka. When the great king, Odysseus travels to Troy on the account of war, many obstructions hinder him from returning home. During his absence, his deprivation of being a father to his son, Telemachus, causes great disappointment. Without a father, his son strives to grow and mature yet he has not the slightest idea of where to. However, as Telemachus struggles to reach manhood and his father struggles to return to Ithaka, their seemingly separate journeys are connected. They both learn values that turn a boy into a man and a great man even greater. In the epic poem the Odyssey, Homer uses parallel rites of passage with Odysseus and Telemachus to develop the importance of the father son-bond.
Throughout The Odyssey Telemachus grows in character from an unprepared teen to a young man who could one day rule Ithaca. He has many experiences traveling to learn more about his father and many that occur on Ithaca once Odysseus returns. All of these events help to shape him into the assertive young man he becomes.
Telemachus and Pisistratus arrive at Sparta. When they arrive Menelaus is hosting a double wedding feast for his son and daughter. Then, Menelaus serves Telemachus and Pisistratus food. Telemachus is amazed by Menelaus of how he takes care of the palace. Menelaus tells him a story that he has been wandering the sea for seven years and discovered that his brother Agamemnon was murdered. He also shared Telemachus that he lost a lot of friends during the Trojan war. He was deeply sudden with all these discoveries and realizes that it is better to stay home with his family and with his people by living honorably in Sparta. That is why the city of Sparta is well take care of because of his stay and ruling. Menelaus is satisfied with his city. Then, Menelaus talked about Odysseus and how he misses him so much and Telemachus cries. The room was quiet then Helen, Menelaus’s wife walks
Prince Telemachus of Ithaca was living in a world of greed and disrespect during his father's twenty-year hiatus. His father, King Odysseus, had set off to fight along with fellow Greeks in the Trojan War. After the war, all the Greeks who did not perish during the battles had made it back to their homelands, with the exception of Odysseus. During this time suitors had taken over Odysseus' palace and were courting his wife. It was time for Telemachus to take action against the crude suitors and become a mature adult. In "The Odyssey" by Homer, a young prince sets off to learn news about his father. At the same time Telemachus meets influential people who introduce him to a whole new world, which propels him to become a mature and respected individual.
The first four books of The Odyssey are all about Telemachos and him figuring out hat he is going to go out and look for his father. He has many dangers because there are 120 or so suitors at his house looking for his mother’s (Penelope) hand in marriage. They disrespect the rules of hospitality, eat his family’s cattle, and drink all of his wine. The suitors have begun to come up with a plot to kill Telemachos because they believe that he is in the way of marrying his mother. The leader of the suitors Antinoos concocts this conspiracy; he is the most manipulative of them all. At the beginning of book one, Telemachos is being taken advantage of and is very passive. But he finally takes a stand when he tells the suitors that they must leave after the next day’s assembly. Not only is Telemachos growing from confronting Antinoos, but also he is growing from calling the assembly. In this part of the book he takes responsibility and leadership roles that he has never done before. He has always been in the shadow of his mother and fallowed her lead, but now he is beginning to break away from that. By doing thins he is becoming more of his own person.
In the Odyssey, Telemachus, son of great hero Odysseus, who grows up in the world of greed and disrespect where the suitors take over his palace and court his mother, is one of the most significant character throughout the whole epic. His father, Odysseus, leaving the land Ithaca for 20 years, is the only warrior alive in Trojan war who hasn’t make his return home. During Telemachus’ expedition to search for the news of his father, he is under a process of maturation from the beginning in which he is mere a shadow of his father to the end in which he becomes more and more like him in terms of initiative, sensitivity and socialization.
middle of paper ... ... In Homer’s Odyssey, both Odysseus and his son Telemachus embark on long, difficult journeys; Odysseus trying to return from Troy to his home in Ithaca, escaping Calypso and the island of Ogygia, and Telemachus from Ithaca to Pylos and Sparta in search of his lost father. While The Odyssey tells of the courage both men demonstrate during their respective travels, their quests are the results of the intentions and desires of gods. Odysseus is trapped in exile on Ogygia by the will of Poseidon, whose anger Odysseus attracts when he blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and by the love of Calypso, who wishes to make Odysseus her husband.
In the first four books of Homer’s The Odyssey, the character of Telemachus undergoes a dramatic evolution. When Homer first introduces him, he appears to be an unsophisticated youth, wallowing in self-pity. After the goddess Athena intervenes, he becomes, seemingly, a man of courage, strength, and resolve. On closer analysis, however, one remains to wonder if this transformation is genuine. The rapidity of his change in personality and the assistance he requires from the goddess at every stage in his journey suggests that he is not yet a hero in the mold of his father, the great Odysseus.