Telemachus in The Odyssey by Homer

Humans are like play-dough they start off average but with the right guidance they can become what they were meant to be. Telemachus in The Odyssey by Homer, had many obstacles he had to overcome and with guidance from his mentor he followed the path to becoming who he was destined to be. Transitioning from high school to college is also a difficult journey and requires a great ordeal of time and effort put into it. Although faintly dissimilar, Telemachus’s initiation into manhood and the initiation of transforming from a high school student to a college student are dubiously alike because they both transition into confident and independent people.

Telemachus's initiation is slightly different, but quite like the initiation high schoolers go through to college. With Telemachus, he had started out as a slightly awkward, measly,shy, and powerless young adult. Originally Telemachus self doubted himself quite a lot whether it was verbal or internal thinking. “Mother has always told me I’m his son, it’s true, but I am not so certain,”Telemachus had said (The Odyssey 1.249-250). In this instance Telemachus does not seem too sure if he is even the true son of his almighty father, Odysseus. He did not know the man well and had nothing to base who he was off of so he had immense doubt in his future and who he was and who he would become. That gradually changes once Athena met him in disguise and gave him guidance. Eventually through her guidance he grew more confident and assertive. Athena gave him the instructions he needed to hear to realize what he needed to do. He went from a lowly, depressed, and self doubting young man to a more confidently glowing assertive being. Telemachus had said once meeting Nestor, “ That’s why I’ve come to p...

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... parents trying to help them succeed but they are not a strong role in their preparation for college. The guidance they are given and the obstacles they have to go through make the initiation for high school students quite similar to Telemachus's initiation ,for they both end up with an end product of becoming confident and independent beings.

Overall the initiation Telemachus went through was incredibly similar to the initiation a average high school student goes through to become a college student. They are not carbon copies of each other yet they both end up with the greatly valued product, confident and independent people. Even though not everyone does exactly like Telemachus and not everyone goes to college everyone can go through an initiation exactly like them. Everyone has goals or obstacles they have to overcome whether or not they are aware of it.