Setting Sail on a Journey to Manhood
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 has many experiences on his journey to manhood. In Ithaca while Odysseus is gone Penelope is being plagued with suitors asking for her hand in marriage. Telemachus sees what a nuisance they are to his mother, and how much they are taking from his father’s palace. He wants to put a stop to this and comes to the conclusion that he must find his father, or at least some information
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After he gets together a crew he begins to take charge, and “Telemachus shout[s] out commands to all his shipmates: ‘All lay hands to tackle!’ They [spring] to orders” (106). Telemachus at this point is beginning to find his own voice. He is driven by the desire to find Odysseus and it is bringing out an authoritative side to him which the men seem to respect. Despite some of the crew being older than him they listen and respond positively to his orders. Once they reach their first destination, Pylos, King Nestor addresses Telemachus and his crew. At the start of this interaction Telemachus is quite fearful and intimidated by the king. Thanks to Athena however, “poised Telemachus answer[es], filled with heart, the heart Athena herself inspired, to ask for the news about his father, gone so long, and make his name …show more content…
Odysseus returns to Ithaca in the form of a beggar. He first comes to Eumaeus the swineherd. Telemachus shows up, and when introduced to the beggar he wants to make him as comfortable as possible while on Ithaca or allow him to return to his destination of choice. Since the palace is full of suitors Telemachus is trying to figure out the best plan for their new guest when he says he will give him food, and clothing, and “send him off wherever his heart desires. Or if you’d rather keep him here at the farmstead” (341). Telemachus is showing an example of xenia after experiencing this guest-host relationship during his travels, and instead of being the guest he has mastered the role of the host. Once Odysseus reveals his true identity to Telemachus they make a plan to be rid of the suitors for good. While in the midst of their scheme Telemachus steps up with a proposition. Athena had inspired Penelope to require a task of the suitors in order for her to choose one of them to marry. The task was to string Odysseus bow, and while they are attempting to do so Telemachus says “ I’d even take a crack at the bow myself” (418). He then proceeds to tell them what will occur if he succeeds. Telemachus is being very assertive, and is about to take part in the challenge however Odysseus motions
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
Through Telemachus, Odyssues’ son, the reader sees Odysseus’ utter dependence upon the gods’ aid. During Telemachus’ journey, all those th...
This shows that Athena’s talk with him began to lead him in the direction of maturity. In his speech at the assembly, he says that what the suitors were doing was wrong. Even though he is beginning to act more mature, he reveals his lack of confidence when he says that, if he finds his father is dead, he will make his “mother marry again” (The Odyssey). At that point, he still did not have the courage to take up his father’s place as king of Ithaca. Also, before he said this, he had “dashed his staff to the ground and burst into tears” (The Odyssey). This clearly reveals his lingering immaturity, where “he acts like a child having a temper tantrum, throwing his toy to the ground and crying” (Bartleby). This act of immaturity makes the people gathered for the assembly look on him in pity like an adult would look with pity at a crying baby. Soon after the assembly, Telemachus leaves Ithaca to search for answers and for his missing father, all the while being guided by
Through these voyages certain parallels are drawn concerning Odysseus and Telemachos: the physical journeys, the mental preparations they have produced, and the resulting change in emotional makeup. These play an immense role in the way the story is set up, due to the purpose of each character's journey, their personal challenges, and the difficulties that surround them.
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
Thus, it is fitting that Homer depicts it as the final step of his endeavors. Certainly, Nestor was a great and wise aid to Telemachus, but his character is not exactly whom he needs imitate at this stage of his life. Rather, it is ultimately Menelaos who will be his prime examples of leadership, aided by the words of Peisistratos. Upon his arrival to Menelaos’ home, the scene is filled with the joys of marriage and wealth. Homer makes a particular effort to portray Menelaos as one Telemachus should look up too. In fact, Menelaos is so intimidating that Telemachus is too shy to speak. Peisistratos, in consequence, initiates the conversation for him, and all three men, Menelaos, Telemachus, and Peisistratos, begin to cry. For the first time, people are truly able to sympathize with Telemachus’ emotions toward his father. This is one of the unique ways Menelaos develops Telemachus’ leadership skills. The consolation from a prime father figure is key to his becoming a man. This emotional setting leads to Menelaos’ memories of Odysseus, lavishing his old friend with compliments and praise when speaking about him to Telemachus. This is something the son of Odysseus is desperate to hear. For he longs to know from a trusted figure the accomplishment and character of his father. Menelaos relays the tales of his wanderings, finally telling Telemachus about his father, who is alive but trapped on
In the beginning of The Odyssey, Prince Telemachus was filled with grief and hoped to know what happened to his long-lost father, Odysseus. In my opinion, Prince Telemachus was just a boy before he met Athena. He was very doubtful and a bit of a coward, if you ask me. Penelope, his mother, has a lot of suitors. The suitors were taking advantage of their food and wine in their home. Yet Prince Telemachus does not kick them out or tell them how he really feels about the situation. Instead, he just daydreams.
Imagine yourself knowing you have a father but growing up with what seems like a single mother. That was Telemachus’ and his mother's everyday life. He and his mother Penelope lived together with hundreds of suitors going in and out of his home taking advantage their home by using the laws his father set up to help people. Odysseus left the first day his son was born and Penelope his mother was left to raise her first and only son.
The Hero’s Journey is never an easy one. This particular journey, as detailed in Homer’s The Odyssey, is one of struggle, loss, heartache, pain, growth and triumph. It is comprised of many steps that Odysseus has to overcome and battle through in order to achieve his final goal of reaching his home and his loved ones. From the Call to Adventure to the Freedom or Gift of living, Odysseus conquered them all. The story begins in the middle of the story, as many of the oral Greek traditions did, with the Journey of Telemachus to find his father. Although Telemachus has not yet met his father, it is almost as if they are journeying together, where the end of both of their journeys results in being reunited. Telemachus journeys from being a boy to becoming a man, while out in the sea Odysseus is battling Poseidon to return to the home that wife that he loves and the home he has left behind.
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...
The reader first finds the character of Telemachus sitting among the suitors in his father’s palace. This seemingly unimportant detail yields information regarding his temperament. The suitors, whom Homer portrays as malicious usurpers, continue to take advantage of Telemachus’ hospitality. Instead of defending his home, his mother, and his belongings from these men, Telemachus numbers among them. This lack of assertiveness displays his frailty and his helplessness given the overwhelming circumstances. At this point, Athena, disguised as Odysseus’ old friend Mentes, visits Telemachus in order to “inspire his heart with courage” (I.105). The two share a meal and engage in a lengthy conversation. The goddess discusses how Telemachus should handle the troublesome suitors and suggests a journey to try to ascertain the whereabouts of Odysseus. The conversation appears to immediately galvanize the young man’s resolve. In fact, immediately after her departure, he summons the courage to confront the suitors, demanding that they are to leave his house at once. The assertiveness that Telemachus displays in this instance is a dramatic departure from ...
...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.
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.
He is released from Ogygia and permitted to return to Ithaca only by the command of Zeus, as delivered by Hermes. Telemachus, rather than being trapped physically, was detained emotionally, feeling helpless to repel the suitors wooing Penelope. Only through the motivation of the goddess Athena did Telemachus find the will and courage to embark in search of Odysseus.