Telemachy In The Odyssey

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It is interesting that Homer chose to start the Odyssey with the Telemachy (the first four books of the Odyssey) instead of starting the epic with Odysseus, who was the main character of the story and the character readers are familiar with. The Telemachy follow the wanderings of Odysseus' son Telemachos, a young, humble man who represented the new generation of men in Greece but was similar in character to his father. I believe that the important things we learn about the character of Telemachos in the first four books are that he is modest yet very similar to his father Odysseus, and I think Homer likely chose to start his epic with the Telemachy as a way to connect The Odyssey with The Iliad.
One of the most defining features of Telemachos …show more content…

The Telemachy is a bridge from the Iliad to the Odyssey. It is so because it contains the appearances of key characters from the Iliad while showing the oddity of Odysseus' disappearance. In Books III and IV, Telemachos visits Nestor, Helen, and Menelaos, three extremely important characters in the Iliad. It is very unlikely they would have been seen in the epic this early if it began with the following of Odysseus. By being reintroduced to these characters, we are welcomed to the Odyssey by the familiarity of the Iliad. It is important to note that by Telemachos meeting these characters, the disappearance of Odysseus becomes even more odd. Nestor, after being asked the whereabouts of Odysseus, listed many he knew to have had good voyages. He said: "Theys say that the Myrmidons . . . made a good voyage, and that Philoktetes . . . had fair sailing, and Idomeneus brought back to Crete all of his companions who had escaped from the fighting. The sea took none of these men" (Homer 3.188-192). All of these men returned home safe, but of all of them Odysseus had not. This would not have been so emphasized if the Telemachy did not exist. Homer provided a clear and smooth transition from the storyline of the Iliad to the Odyssey because of the Telemachy and provided the reader or listener with a sense of comfort by the familiarity of the

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