With time come change, change in the human experience. That fact applies no differently to literature, specifically reflected through reading ancient prose with a modern lens. A relevant example is the relationship of a father and son in Homer’s Odyssey. Through characterization on the surface, this significant relationship appears quite distinct in contrast to such relationships today. However, these quite humane and sentimental relationships are no different than those experienced today—those of a father and son. Quite frankly, what is true of humans in the ancient world is true to humans today, ability to feel such potent emotion, to experience such a significant relationship yields the human need of affection and connection, as reflected with the relationship of the father and the son.
When Odysseus reveals himself to his son, Telemachus in book sixteen, the reaction of both characters is extremely humane. This monumental acquaintance is a time of sentiment and emotion for both characters; the foundation a relationship of a father and a son. Both characters really get down on their knees for each other and despite his hubris with the rest of the community, Odysseus breaks down at the sight of his son, “throwing/his arms around this marvel of a father/Telemachus began to weep./ salt tears/rose from the wells of longing in both men,/and cries burst from both” (16, 253-257). Until this monumental point, the reader never sees this side of Odyssues, this emotional and truly down-to-earth side, which is compelled by the bonding of his son, the immediate depth one feels for the other. Being only acquainted to his father by distance, and, quite merely, hearsay, Telemachus feels connected to his dad, but now through his own eyes, he ...
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... Homer’s Odyssey. It is not only used as an allusion to portray the values of ancient Greece, but also plays a role in recognizing that despite there may not be many differences in today’s life, there is truly no discrepancies in the human experience, in the feeling of emotion. Specifically the strong emotion intertwined and frankly powering the relationship of father and son. Through their distance, Odysseus and Telemachus grow profound respect for each other and really become to honor each other. Once that distance is no longer, and the longing and hope of seeing each other is present, they are gifted with the power to fill that void, and to become personally acquainted. This is truly a gift, truly a gift they have, the ability to feel the significance of the relationship of father and son, which is no different than what is, on a delved level experienced today.
Telemachus’ and his father Odysseus’ experiences/journeys parallel each other in many different ways. One way that they are both similar is that they are both very well liked by Athena, who accompanies both on their journeys around Greece. Athena acts as guardian to both father and son. A quote which proves this is I, 85 “In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to put heart into Odysseus' son Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the Achaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his mother Penelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; I will also condu...
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.
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.
The relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhos is a blind love. That is because they never really got to know each other because Odysseus has been gone for most of Telemakhos’ life. One example of this blind love is when Odysseus hears about how the suitors are mistreating and stealing from Telemakhos. Odysseus gets so irate that he was then even more determined than ever, to return to his family. Telemakhos also exhibits the same kind of blind love towards his father. Even though people have told him that his father was dead, he never believed it. He felt that his father was alive and was willing to sacrifice his life to prove it. Telemakhos was inexperienced at directing a boat, but he was willing to try because he felt something inside of him that gave him the strength to go on. Thus, this relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhos gave both of them the courage to overcome the hardships ahead of them.
There are many essential emotions that form the building blocks of our lives. These emotions help to shape the people that we are. These feelings are emotional necessities to ultimately keep us happy. No piece of literature these feelings more evident than the Odyssey by Homer. Throughout the course of this book there is one major emotional theme: love.
Homer compares the crying Odysseus to a woman who weeps for her husband who died in battle. The weeping woman is described in a very dramatic scene in order to reflect the intensity of the sorrow that Odysseus is experiencing. The “woman weeps, flinging herself across the fallen body of her dear husband.” As she is “clinging to him, [she] wails,” and then “the enemies behind her strike her back and shoulders, then they carry her away to slavery and trials and misery.” The woman goes through a great deal of hardship, which explains why “her cheeks are wasted with pain.” Not only does her husband die, but the enemies strike her with their spears and take her away to suffer more. By comparing Odysseus’s crying to the woman weeping in this intense scene of misery, Homer is able to show the reader the degree of sorrow that Odysseus is feeling.
The relationships between parents and their sons in the Iliad are not relationships we expect to see in today’s society. The Iliad portrays the relationships between fathers and sons as something more than just physical and emotional. It is based on pride and respect for one another. The expectations of their son are more so to pass on their fathers reputable name and to follow in their father’s footsteps of being noble warriors. These relationships are the driving forces in the Iliad, making each son in the Iliad identifiable first by their father’s name. An outcome of the father–son relationships is ancestral loyalty among the characters which play a prominent role in war. Therefore, not only does the Iliad share a major war story, but the strong relationships among fathers and sons, ancestral loyalty among characters, and relationships between mothers and sons.
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.
We see how Telemachus transforms from a “boy” sitting at home all day, crying for his father, to a man, who takes action into his own hands to actually go search for his father across the seas. The biggest difference between the two was the way in which they carried themselves. Odysseus is and always has been a man who holds his head high and perseveres, despite the outcome, where Telemachus has never really held his head high, and has not had the courage to persevere. As the epic draws to an end, readers can see how the relationship between Odysseus and Telemachus withstand Odysseus’s prolonged return home, and how despite his absence, these characters share many
At some point in their life, many people experience a feeling 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,
Growing up he heard stories of his heroic father, along with rumors of his father being dead. While Telemachus and his mother, Penelope,waited ten years for the return of Odysseus, suitors filled their homes trying to marry Penelope. Without Odysseus being around Telemachus had to be a man on his own with no male guidance. Not knowing if Odysseus is still alive gives Telemachus a feeling of hope, which his father will come back and guide him to be a man until then he is still a child, emotional and vulnerable. “(Telemachus) Suitors plague my mother-against her will… Not they-they infest out palace day and night, they butcher out cattle, our sheep, put fat goats, feasting themselves sick, swilling our glowing wine as if there’s no tomorrow…” (Homer 95) Telemachus whines and complains that they suitors are ruining his home, he is very emotional and cries. Telemachus calls himself “a boy inept for battle”(Homer 95), and says that if he had the power in him to attack he would, but instead the suitors should fear the gods’ wrath, then begs the gods to punish them. Telemachus doesn't man up to get rid of the suitors, instead he uses the excuse that he is just a boy and does nothing because a child can’t do anything but beg the god’s to care of the
Telemachus’ belief that the gods would never help him in a dire situation was immediately negated by Nestor. As Nestor makes Telemachus understand that “not even / the gods can fend [death] away from a man they love” (3.36-7). Even though it may seem the gods have control over fate, they do not. Using the example of Agamemnon being the gods chosen the king of the king was nevertheless, “killed … [by] his wife” (3.235). That it is in fates hands more than the gods. As then Homer presented an example of Odysseus floating in “the stream of Ocean” with the winds carrying Odysseus to the “mortals” (4.567-8). Homer indirectly emphasizing that Poseidon may have wanted to kill Odysseus but fate had other ideas and kept him alive. Nestor advises Telemachus as if he were Nestor's own son, earning his trust. With that Telemachus also built a respectable character towards Nestor. Certainly, now it is clear that Telemachus “has a likeness to the son of great-hearted Odysseus” (4.143). This conversation plays well to the term like father like a son since Telemachus’ “words are like [Odysseus’] words” (3.124). Making the readers realize that Odysseus is now not the only one with remarkable, cunning nature, but with experience, Telemachus will be as
Odysseus and Telemachus are presented with similar traits, drawing a parallel between father and son to display their individual flaws. Even with the long absence of his father, Telemachus grew to develop into a man almost identical to his father, learning to step up and act like the prince he is, especially in difficult times. With his cleverness and thoughtfulness he inherited from Odysseus, Telemachus will, no doubt, one day be just as exceptional as his father. After the numerous ordeals he has been through, Telemachus has truly proven himself worthy of being called the son of Odysseus.
While Odysseus and his son are united and face the world together, Ulysses sees himself and his son as two different people living separate lives. When he returns, Odysseus has a close, personal relationship with his son; he becomes Telemachus' mentor. Odysseus realizes Telemachus' resemblance to himself - both are noble men of action who value justice. Together, they devise a plan to avenge the arrogant suitors who have abused their household for the past three years. Finally, "he [Odysseus] found the whole company lying in heaps in the blood and dust..." (Homer, 22.383). Father and son are victorious together. Conversely, as Ulysses ages, he and his son are disunited. Ulysses is confident that he has trained his son to be a benevolent ruler. He praises Telemachus's patience, gentleness, and prudence - all outstanding qualities that he is lacking. Ulysses acknowledges that he and his son are opposite people. He is adventurous, while Telemachus is sedate. "He works his work, I mine" (Tennyson, Line 43) suggests acceptance of a destiny; the father and son must lead separate lives because of their differences. Despite changing roles the man plays in Telemachus' life, he successfully raises his son to become a respectable leader.
In conclusion, the “Odyssey” is one of the greatest literary works ever known and this literary analysis should help the reader to understand the important components of the novel such as theme, characters, relationships, symbols, motifs, literary devices, and tone.