In Homer’s epic poem Odyssey, Telemachus learns how to mature from a young boy to a wise man with Athena’s help. Telemachus was a boy who did not know how to do anything. “Long before anyone else, the prince Telemachus now caught sight of Athena-for he, too, was sitting there, unhappy among the suitors, a boy, daydreaming. What if his great father came from the unknown world and drove these men like dead leaves through the place,” (Line 18-23). Telemachus is wanting his daddy to come and make all these disgusting men leave. He is just too immature and young to realize that he can try. If he had a good model who he is able to follow and learn from, he would have been a great prince. But since there is not a single person he can look up to, Telemachus
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
Up until the time Telemakhos leaves to find news of his father, he is viewed as naïve and child-like by the suitors and his own mother, even though he is in his late teens. This lack of recognition can be attributed to Telemakhos’s poor choices, or lack of choices early in the epic. While Telemakhos remained loyal to a father he has never known, without Athena’s assistance he would have done absolutely nothing about the suitors. Though it was this loyalty to his father that cast him on his journey to Sparta. Nestor reinforces in the prince a respect for loyalty and faith. After he joins his father and is made an important part of the king’s plot to overcome the suitors, a good deal of Telemakhos’ motivation is based on faith. He believes in the support of the gods, especially Athena; and he believes in this great man, his father, whom he has known only as a legend. Telemakhos rarely wavers. At the showdown with the suitors in the great hall, he is shrewd enough to get his mother out of the line of fire and mature enough to be a real help to Odysseus. The prince stands against more than a hundred suitors with only his father and a couple of herdsmen on his side. He fights valiantly, earning his father’s respect and trust.
Throughout novel, The Odyssey by Homer, Telemachus, son of the main character, Odysseus, goes through significant phases that changes his life forever. Right from the beginning, Telemachus was in a situation that he couldn't rid himself out of. He was basically a depressed boy with a “heart obsessed with grief”(Homer 81) who couldn't man up because of having a missing father or any men to look up to, and also having to face the worst guests, men trying to take his mother, throw him away, make him feel weak, and take over the palace. “'He's left me tears and grief. Nor do I rack my heart and grieve for him alone. No Longer. Now the gods have invented other miseries to plague me'” (Homer 85).
In the story of the Odyssey, Odysseus’ son, Telemachus journey was to find his father which forces him to become a man along the way. Telemachus being the son of King Odysseus and Queen Penelope, he knew one day his would become king to the throne. But while, his father, Odysseus was away on his own personal adventure; there was no one in the house whole to teach Telemachus to be a true man or be able to the place of king of the throne. And just like any other young man, he would needed a significant male role model to help him go through his evolution to become a true man. In the beginning of the story, Telemachus was just a 19/20 year old young man, who had never seen his father. So at that point in his life, he was a bit immature and inexperience. In addition, he also didn’t know whether to think his father is alive or died. But when he begin his adventure the grown and changes in Telemachus evolution is displayed.
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
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.
The opening books of The Odyssey present the reader with an unsettling situation. The setting is the city of Ithaka, ten years after the fall of Troy, and king Odysseus has not returned to his kingdom. This means that there have been twenty years in Ithaka with no definite leadership or law enforcement. In consequence, the other men of society attempt to seize power, spoiling Odysseus’ home and trying to seduce his wife. Meanwhile, Telemachus matures into a man, trying to fill the leadership role his father once had. However, Telemachus has had no authentic mentorship to help him handle the invasion of suitors. This lack of fatherly mentorship proves to be an enormous obstacle to his ability to lead the people as the next king of Ithaka. Thankfully,
What is maturity? When does one mature? Maturity defined by a dictionary means “fully developed physically; fully grown,” but it also depends on the way one acts. Although one is grown up, it does not mean one acts poised and sophisticated as expected. After the Trojan War, the main character Odysseus is on a long journey to return to his home, Ithaca. The problem is the kingdom is overrun by suitors; his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, do their best to keep them out of the palace. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus transitions from being immature to mature as he is placed in Xenia,the Greek custom of hospitality for guests through encounters with Polyphemus, Circe, and Alcinous.
Over their travels in the epic The Odyssey, both Odysseus’ and his son Telemachus’ adventures were parallel but at the same time different. These travels led them both to grow and change drastically, and both learned some very important life lessons over the course of this epic.
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.
The Odyssey, is an epic tale of one man’s expedition for nostos. In the beginning of Homer’s Odyssey, it is evident Telémakhos has not yet matured to manhood despite his age. Throughout the first four books, known as “The Telemachy”, he goes through a journey in which he develops and ultimately helps with Odysseus’ nostos. Athena has an important role in Telémakhos growth to manhood. It is Athena who encourages Telémakhos to go on a quest to find his father. Within this quest Telémakhos matures into adulthood. Telémakhos also learns a lot about himself, which helps him with his maturation. He develops some important characteristics that help prove his familial ties with Odysseus. His character growth is extremely important because it helps
Of the many proofs of Telemachus' maturation three are sufficient to render an accurate account of what virtues he gained. The gained virtues shown are courage, wisdom, and prudence. Courage is shown when Telemachus decides to go around Nestor's house rather than passing through it, for Telemachus goes out to sea knowing that an ambush awaits him. This wisdom is manifested in his knowledge that if he stops Nestor's hospitality will delay him even more. And prudence is shown in Telemachus' ability to control his desires for comfort in Nestor's house and his decision to endure hardship at sea. Next Telemachus' confidence and hospitality are shown when he takes in Theochlamenos the seer. In the beginning of the poem Telemachus is not confident enough in his ability to provide hospitality to Athena disguised as Mentor, but now Telemachus is happy to provide the seer with refuge. Another proof of Telemachus' virtues is his confidence in ordering his mother and her maids to comply with his will; their obedience shows us that he is worthy of respect. Thus Telemachus possesses the virtues necessary to be a ruler: courage, wisdom, prudence, confidence, and hospitality.
Early on in both of their stories, Odysseus and Telemachus learn to practice strong will in initiating their own journeys. Even though Telemachus reaches the cusp of his childhood, the individuals around him plague him into believing he remains a boy. In the Odyssey, gods are considered to control vast things such as fate or choose to intrude in the lives of mortals. One of these goddesses, Athena, desires to aid both Odysseus and Telemachus in their journeys. In disguise, she gives Telemachus inspiration to initiate the steps to adulthood by saying, “you’ll never be fainthearted or a fool, /Telemachus, if you have your father’s spirit; /he finished what he cared to say,” (Homer 27). With this he commences the hardship of finding his father by immediately calling an assembly and defying the men around him who thought him incapable. Meanwhile, Odysseus has already faced trials testing his determination. He evades the many temptations of immortals su...
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.