Some say that a father and son relationship is one of the strongest connection that two people can have. This relationship is considered to be extremely close because fathers and their sons are typically physically close, fortifying the father-son bond. In The Odyssey, by Homer, Telemachus is a young prince who has not seen his father, Odysseus, in almost 20 years. Odysseus is assembling a team in order to take the throne back in his home country, Ithaca, by killing the suitors who are attempting to court his wife and Queen of Ithaca, Penelope. Odysseus’ relationship with Telemachus is the most important relationship for Odysseus to achieve his goal of ensuring success in the final battle because they are loyal and they are both highly respected. …show more content…
When Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca, he is instructed by Athena to find the swineherd’s place. As he reaches the swineherd’s place, the herdsman’s guard dogs spotted him and being the “savage beasts” they are, they run at Odysseus, “but Odysseus sank to the ground at once, he knew the trick” (14.24), (14.33-34). The fact that Odysseus “knew the trick”, which stopped the dogs from attacking him shows that Odysseus most likely trained the guard dogs himself. Not only does this show the tactfulness of Odysseus, remembering a trick he taught dogs 20 or more years ago, but it shows his loyalty as well. This particular example shows the loyalty of Odysseus because he has spent 20 years away from home, and could have given up on his odyssey home, but he had motivation to get home and take back the throne. Odysseus’ return home exemplifies loyalty, and the guard dogs only back that up. Moving down a generation, Telemachus also bring loyalty to the team. In the palace of red-haired Menelaus, Telemachus shows his allegiance to Ithaca, telling the king, “let me go back to my own country now. The heart inside me longs for home at last” (15.71-72). As shown in the Revolutionary War, fighting with a cause can inspire a small force and generate a colossal victory. Having two loyal mortals fighting with a tenacious desire to win, it is proven that anything can happen. In this situation, the …show more content…
The first thing that Odysseus is instructed to do by Athena is to find the swineherd’s hut. Eumaeus, the swineherd, is an old childhood friend of Odysseus, and again, Odysseus must display self-control in this scenario. Nonetheless, respect of Odysseus is shown by Eumaeus when he tells a beggar, who unbeknownst to Eumaeus, was Odysseus, “Goods that a kind lord will give a household hand who labors for him...My master, I tell you, would have repaid me well” (14.74, 77). Not only does a friend and subject of Odysseus’ ruling commend Odysseus to a thought of stranger, but he gets to hear it personally, but disguised as a beggar, of course. Respect is shown, because under no circumstances is Eumaeus, the swineherd who lives with pigs, required to show reverence for his former king and leader. Likewise to his father, Telemachus also receives respect from others. Telemachus finds himself in King Menelaus’ palace, where he is “treated with so much kindness at [Menelaus’] hands, loaded down with all these priceless gifts,” being treated with as much respect as anyone (15.177-178). Being respected by others can help significantly, even in a battle against the suitors, in Telemachus’ case, where the pair may not be respected by the suitors, but they will most likely be respected by others. Respect from others is important, and
When Odysseus told Telemakhos that he wished to stay as a beggar for a little while and get used to the town before he attacks the suitors, Telemakhos didn't feel it was right. He knew that if he were to go into town he would be mocked by the suitors and antagonized by them. He may even be beaten. This shows that Telemakhos cares for Odysseus and his honor. But Odysseus knew that he must be a beggar until it is the right time. "Let your ribs cage up your springing heart, no matter what I suffer, no matter if they pull me by the heels or practice shots at me, to drive me out. Look on, hold down your anger." (16, 326) So Telemakhos had no choice but to agree. "Ah, father, even when danger comes I think you'll find courage in me. I am not scatterbrained." (16, 369) This may greatly affect his honor and maybe create hatred towards the suitors so he will be pumped up and ready to kill the suitors at any time.
Odysseus and Telemachus are favored by the gods particularly Athena, Athena respects Odysseus’ wily nature she even begged Zeus to release him from Calypso's island “If now it really pleases the blissful gods that wise Odysseus shall return-home at last.” (p.80 99-100). Then after that she herself went to Odysseus’ house to tell Telemachus that his father was still alive, “Yet I tell you great Odysseus is not dead. He’s alive, somewhere in this wide world.” (p.83-84 229-230). And
Soon after the assembly, Telemachus leaves Ithaca to search for answers and for his missing father, all the while being guided by Athena. He also finds something he least expected: his father is alive and well. Telemachus is overjoyed to see Odysseus, the man who could not be there to help him grow into a man. He did not have a father, though.
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
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
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.
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.
Some of the major relationships in the story are the relationship between Odysseus and his men, because they view as a hero and are willing to do anything for him. Odysseus also has a very close bond with Telemachus, his son, and his loyalty to his father can be seen when he travels to Sparta to look for his father when he has been absent for so long and near the end when he helps his father defeat the suitors. An important negative relationship that Odysseus has is his relationship with the suitor Antinous. When Odysseus returns, Antinous and his men are trying to take over his house, ...
The Odyssey also illustrates other relationships where love is of great importance – one of the most emphasized is the father-son relationship between Odysseus and Telemachos. This relationship is a little awkward because they both never really got to know each other but they still care for each other's well being. When Odysseus hears of all the suitors devouring Telemachos's future fortune and mistreating him, he wants to return and revenge the misuse of his family and property. Odysseus, like any parent, also misses his only child while he is at war. Telemachos on the contrary also displays a lot of love for his father. Telemachos leaves Ithaca, nexperienced, to find any knowledge of his father in hope that he is still alive. Telemachos through out most of his life has lacked a father figure and desperately needs that special help and guidance from Odysseus as he becomes a man. Their relationship seems to show how love can give you the strength to carry on.
...sniveling coward who would faint at the sight of blood, or worse yet, a traitor who would warn the suitors of Odysseus' plans. Apparently, Odysseus believes that since Telemachus was his son that was a good enough reason to trust him. (jackhdavid)” This quote shows how that even though Telemachus didn’t know his father, right when he found out who he was, he loved him automatically like if he knew him for years and stood by his side to do anything he needed to make Ithaca better for his family and his people. This father-son relationship is different than any other, they actually spend more time apart than they do together, and it is through distance that they develop respect and love for one another.
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.
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.
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.