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, …show more content…
Consider in the second book where he expresses the problems he faces: “There are two evils. I have lost a noble father, one who was a king once over you here, and was kind to you like a father; and now a greater evil, one which presently will break up the whole house and destroy all my livelihood.” Although Telemachus conveys that the problem of the suitors is the greater evil, being the immediate issue, the root of the whole problem lies in Telemachus’ inability to lead because he has “lost a noble father.” His lack of fatherly discipline causes him act like a boy, throwing his scepter on the ground in a fit of tears in front of the assembly. It is clear from this scene that Telemachus is not yet fit to lead the people of Ithaka because he has had no training. Peisistratos, son of Nestor, says this explicitly to Menelaos in book four: “For a child endures many griefs in his house when his father is gone away, and no others are there to help him.” Clearly, Telemachus needs a father figure, and so Menelaos will teach him how to lead, using his own example and the stories of his …show more content…
Thus, it is fitting that Menelaos is the final person he visits. Certainly, Nestor was a great and wise aid to Telemachus, but his character is not what he needs to imitate at this stage of his life; Athena understands that he needs both advice and a physical example to follow. Rather, Nestor plays the character of a wise old sage and acts as a springboard to the interaction with Menelaos, who is at the stage of life Telemachus is striving for. Menelaos’ home is filled with wealth, marriage and happiness, all examples Telemachus should follow. Yet, Telemachus is too shy to speak. Peisistratos, in consequence, initiates the conversation about Odysseus for him, and all three men, Menelaos, Telemachus, and Peisistratos, begin to cry. For the first time, other men truly sympathize with Telemachus’ emotions toward his father. This is one of the unique ways Menelaos develops Telemachus’ leadership skills. The healing that comes from the consolation from a father figure is key to becoming a man. This emotional setting leads to Menelaos’ memories of Odysseus, lavishing his old friend with compliments and praise, encouraging Telemachus further. Menelaos relays the tale of the Old Man of the Sea, Proteus, to teach Telemachus important lessons to deal with the suitors. Consider when Eidothea begins to explain how to catch her father Proteus; it requires elaborate planning and patience. Menelaos has to
Through Telemachus, Odyssues’ son, the reader sees Odysseus’ utter dependence upon the gods’ aid. During Telemachus’ journey, all those th...
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
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
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...
A suitor is defined in Oxford Dictionary as a man who pursues a relationship with a particular woman, with a view to marriage. In the epic novel The Odyssey, there are a number of suitors after the same woman, Penelope. Penelope is the wife of the famous Odyssey, and the mother of Telemachus. Telemachus is not fans of the suitors that remain in his house waiting to see which his mother will chose, her husband who has been gone for twenty years or one of the new suitors in the house. Antinous is suitor that cannot be missed in the house. He is always speaking about his ability to win over Penelope better than any other suitor in the house. He is different than the other suitors because he is not portrayed at someone with emotion or sympathy.
The first four books of The Odyssey are all about Telemachos and him figuring out hat he is going to go out and look for his father. He has many dangers because there are 120 or so suitors at his house looking for his mother’s (Penelope) hand in marriage. They disrespect the rules of hospitality, eat his family’s cattle, and drink all of his wine. The suitors have begun to come up with a plot to kill Telemachos because they believe that he is in the way of marrying his mother. The leader of the suitors Antinoos concocts this conspiracy; he is the most manipulative of them all. At the beginning of book one, Telemachos is being taken advantage of and is very passive. But he finally takes a stand when he tells the suitors that they must leave after the next day’s assembly. Not only is Telemachos growing from confronting Antinoos, but also he is growing from calling the assembly. In this part of the book he takes responsibility and leadership roles that he has never done before. He has always been in the shadow of his mother and fallowed her lead, but now he is beginning to break away from that. By doing thins he is becoming more of his own person.
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.
Although the overall plot of The Odyssey mainly focuses on Odysseus’ return, it also presents the reader with a detailed roadmap to Telemachus’ coming of age. Telemachus gains respect, assertiveness, and leadership skills throughout The Odyssey. At the beginning of the book, he isn’t respected. He is seen as young and the suitors are surprised when he says, “…heaven help me, but Zeus shall reckon with you in full, and when you fall in my father’s house there shall be no man to offend you” (Homer 17). The suitors didn’t expect Telemachus to talk back to him like this as they thought of him the same way they think of a little kid. So, the suitors retaliated with “The gods seem to have given you lessons in bluster and tall talking; may Zeus never
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.
To begin with, Telemachus was afraid to even approach the suitors of his mother about his yearning for them to be gone. He has also lost hope that his father is still alive, because he truly does not know him. “My mother says indeed I am his. I for my part do not know. Nobody really knows his own father.” (32. 215-216) He speaks these words to Athena who in turn tells Telemachus about his father, and what he should do to find out some information about his father’s whereabouts. According to Solon, Telemachos should be at his mental and physical prowess but instead he is simply a boy who cannot even lead his own house. He needs the push and advice of a stranger for him to decide what to do.
...e gods and goddesses who changed his fate (ex. Poseidon, Calypso, Circle). He learned very many valuable lessons over the course of the epic all thanks to these unfortunate events. Telemachus was also affected by the suitors, who were the biggest reason for his change into a man. They were the main conflict in the story for him and they also played a small role in affecting the changes of his father. Without the suitors, abuse of xenia could not have been displayed, Telemachus would not have had much reason to mature and there would not have been as much interest in the book for readers.
As Telemakhos, who is ignorant of how real family life should be, travels in search of his father, he learns about family life. In Pylos, he meets Nestor, who asks his son, Peisistratus, to accompany him. This is important because it is the first time Telemakhos has a real friend. In Sparta, he meets King Menelaos and Helen, who are in the midst of the celebration of a double wedding. Here he is shown what a real family should be. Menelaos and Helen have had their troubles. But since they were reunited after the Trojan War, their lives together have been happy and their relationship is loving, honest, and healthy. By the same token, their kingdom thrives, because of this healthy family relationship.
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 ...
...a, 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. 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.