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. …show more content…
But many parts of the epic prove this to be wrong. Homer says, "If only the gods would give me such strength as he has to take revenge on the suitors for their overbearing oppression," he says, but "No, the gods have spun out no such strand of prosperity for me and my father. Now we must even have to endure it" (3.205-209). While reading this direct quote from the epic it is obvious that Telemachus is not a hero, instead he is a coward. He does not believe that he was given the strength because the gods did not grant it to him. To continue on not so good traits of Telemachus he believes his father to be coward. Homer …show more content…
Antinous is someone who has no issue opening his mouth when he has an opinion on something. During the epic Homer states, “[Antinoös] was to be the first to get a taste of the arrow from the hands of blameless Odysseus, to whom he now paid attention as he sat in Odysseus ' halls and encouraged all his companions (21.98-100). As he says this it leaves many people wondering what the purpose of this quote is. Is he proving that he is not afraid of what is to come or is it used to foreshadow his death. Many believe it could go either way, he is confidence in many different manners but especially about his ability to keep Penelope. His confidence continues when he says, “Then [Penelope] can marry the one who offers most, the man marked out by fate to be her husband” (16.434-435). This tends to reinforce the idea that Antinous is confident in his abilities but not liked by many. An important fact about Antinous is that he was the first suitor to die when Odysseus returns to his family. This shows how weak he
A true hero will go through immeasurable lengths to benefit not him or herself, but the people around them. Heroes are neither selfish nor uncaring. They seek every opportunity they get to help those in need. One must have also gone through the entire hero’s journey to be deemed a hero. He must start off naïve and inept and through his challenges, transform into someone worth calling a hero. Most importantly, a hero is not perfect. He must listen to other’s ideas and utilize them. However, in The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus disrespects his crew men and the gods’ advice, lets hubris interfere with his men’s lives, and is unfaithful to his wife Penelope.
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
The Character Odysseus in Odyssey "Odyssey" is an epic story that has been a significant piece of literature since it was first composed and will remain so for ages to come. One of the reasons it has been so is because of the hero, Odysseus. Odysseus was one of the first Greek mythic heroes renowned for his brain as well as his muscles. Indeed he is a man with an inquiring mind, and he is also a man with outstanding prowess and bravery" (123helpme.com/assets/3603.html). "We also must not forget that he is a top-notch athlete which only adds more to this seemingly insuperable character.
Throughout the poem, Penelope encourages the suitors to stay in her home by making them think they are welcome. With Odysseus gone Penelope chooses whom she hosts in the great palace. Penelope does hate the suitors but she never once tells them to leave. She even makes the suitors think that she would be choosing her new husband soon and in this way she makes them feel welcome in her home. Antinous, a suitor, responds to accusations Telemachus made to the suitors at an assembly.
Antigone was a selfless person with pride as a strong characteristic of her personality. She possibly had feelings of loneliness and anger from the way society has looked upon her family from their past. It took a strong willed person who has no fear of the repercussions to stand up to a king as she did. To make everything all the worst she stood up to a king who was her Uncle and she being a female back in those time, standing up and speaking out for herself was not heard of.
In the opening books of The Odyssey, the reader is presented with an unsettling situation. One is placed in the city of Ithaka, ten years after the fall of Troy, yet king Odysseus and his men have not returned to their kingdom. This means that there have been ten years in Ithaka with no leadership and no means of law enforcement. In consequence, the lower men of society attempt to seize power. The result is a myriad of suitors spoiling Odysseus’ home, trying to steal his wife, and finally a neglected son trying to keep the estate from crumbling before his eyes. Telemachus has had no father to guide him nor any authentic mentorship to help him handle the suitors taking over his father’s estate. This proves to be an enormous obstacle to his ability
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
Odysseus’ son; Penelope, Odysseus’ wife; and the suitors, prominent young men of Ithaca who attempt to marry Penelope. Telemakhos is the first of these characters to be introduced. In lines 1-14 of book II he is introduced as a prominent young man as he enters the assembly “spear in hand, with two quick hounds at heel; Athena lavished on him a sunlit grace that held the eye of the multitude. Old men made way for him as he took his father’s chair.” Despite Telemakhos’ prominent figure in the opening lines of this book, it soon becomes obvious that he is not an extremely powerful figure. Telemakhos intends to expel the suitors from his home but he is not strong enough to fight them. It is important that the reader meets Telemakhos in the beginning because he is the main character in the Ithaca plot and also he must overcome obstacles at home foreshadowing the obstacles his father faces later in the epic.
Telemachus’ belief that the gods would never help him in a dire situation was immediately negated by Nestor. As Nestor makes Telemachus understand that “not even / the gods can fend [death] away from a man they love” (3.36-7). Even though it may seem the gods have control over fate, they do not. Using the example of Agamemnon being the gods chosen the king of the king was nevertheless, “killed … [by] his wife” (3.235). That it is in fates hands more than the gods. As then Homer presented an example of Odysseus floating in “the stream of Ocean” with the winds carrying Odysseus to the “mortals” (4.567-8). Homer indirectly emphasizing that Poseidon may have wanted to kill Odysseus but fate had other ideas and kept him alive. Nestor advises Telemachus as if he were Nestor's own son, earning his trust. With that Telemachus also built a respectable character towards Nestor. Certainly, now it is clear that Telemachus “has a likeness to the son of great-hearted Odysseus” (4.143). This conversation plays well to the term like father like a son since Telemachus’ “words are like [Odysseus’] words” (3.124). Making the readers realize that Odysseus is now not the only one with remarkable, cunning nature, but with experience, Telemachus will be as
A person will typically think a hero as one who is equipped with great strength or ability. But a hero is more than just being brave or strong. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus goes through many challenges and is faced with his biggest weakness: his hubris or excessive pride. Though, Odysseus earns the title of a hero because he exhibits courage, utilizes cunning, and overcomes his hubris.
Brad Moore, a famous athlete once said, “Pride would be a lot easier to swallow if it didn’t taste so bad.” In Sophocles’ well known Greek tragedy, Antigone, the main character undergoes immense character development. Antigone transforms from being stubborn and underestimated to courageous and open-minded. In reality, it is Antigone’s insular persistence that leads to her ultimate decline in the play as well as others around her. After the death of her two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, Creon becomes the new ruler of Thebes. With this, he grants Eteocles an honorable funeral service for his brave fighting. Claiming that Polynices was a traitor, he shows complete refusal to grant Polynices a respectable and worthy service. Clearly disagreeing with Creon’s inexcusable demands, Antigone declares she will bury Polynices herself so that his soul can be at peace. Entirely aware of the consequences and dangers of this action, which include death, she goes forward vowing her love for her family. Antigone shows strength and determination towards her brother. However, her growing sense of pride leads to her downfall as she sacrifices everything for her family. Antigone develops into an admirable character in which she portrays her defiance and courage, pride and open mindedness, and sense of moral righteousness to show vital character growth as the play progresses.
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 relationships between parents and their sons in the Iliad are not relationships we expect to see in today’s society. The Iliad portrays the relationships between fathers and sons as something more than just physical and emotional. It is based on pride and respect for one another. The expectations of their son are more so to pass on their fathers reputable name and to follow in their father’s footsteps of being noble warriors. These relationships are the driving forces in the Iliad, making each son in the Iliad identifiable first by their father’s name. An outcome of the father–son relationships is ancestral loyalty among the characters which play a prominent role in war. Therefore, not only does the Iliad share a major war story, but the strong relationships among fathers and sons, ancestral loyalty among characters, and relationships between mothers and sons.
Throughout the story The Odyssey there are many themes that represent major parts of the story. The main theme that stood out to me is love which includes loyalty. “Love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; or a sexual passion or desire” (dictionary.com). “Loyalty is defined in the Webster's dictionary as faithfulness or devotion to a person, a cause or a duty” (Webster’s dictionary). Through these definitions, it can be expressed that loyalty and love are major themes in Homer's epic, "The Odyssey". Love and loyalty shows relationships that are between two people. The few relationships that represents love and loyalty is between husband and wife Odysseus and Penelope and also between father and son Odysseus and Telemachus. These relationships shows more than just love and loyalty though, their relationships also shows compassion, sympathy and the need to be in each one another’s lives.
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.