How Does Telemachus Maintain His Identity

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By killing the suitors, Telemachus will become a man. Ultimately, it is only through a journey that Telemachus will be able to develop his true identity. Regardless of the significance of inventing and defining identity, maintaining that identity is of the utmost importance.
Throughout his journey from Troy to Ithaca, Odysseus struggles to maintain his identity. Odysseus identifies himself with his homeland and position in society. He is not fully himself until he reclaims his position as King of Ithaca, father of Telemachus, son of Laertes, and husband of Penelope. On his way home from Troy, Odysseus has to resist the temptations to forget his identity and homeland. The encounters Odysseus faces throughout his journey home require his extreme emotional strength. He has to be able to resist his desires in order to maintain his …show more content…

For example, Odysseus has to leave the beautiful nymph Calypso and return home in order to re-establish his identity as king, father, son, and husband. Odysseus’ journey from the island is one of the many steps Odysseus has to take in order to maintain his identity. According to the scholar Thomas Schmidt, “The identity of the Homeric hero is agonistic-that is, based on competition. In the motionless torpor of a life on Ogygia, where he cannot strive to be best, the hero is not alive.” In addition, Odysseus can face the potential of losing the memory of his origin and identity. Furthermore, Schmidt describes how the act of Odysseus leaving the island frees him from existing without identity (41-42). The last step of Odysseus’ journey is for Odysseus to re-establish his identity. After returning home to Ithaca after twenty years, Odysseus has the goal of reclaiming the identity he has tried so hard to maintain. Odysseus constantly has to prove himself to his family members in order for them to believe he is truly Odysseus. He does this by revealing his scar, stringing and shooting his bow, and expressing his knowledge of the marriage

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