At the beginning of the
Odyssey, Telemachus seems young and powerless. He is completely passive in the face of the suitors abuses and they treat him like a pushover. As he embarks on a journey and the epic wears on, how and why does the character of Telemachus change?
Odysseus son Telemachus was an infant when his father left him to go to war. At the beginning of the book Telemachus young and hopeless, is determined to become powerful one day. His father is a very powerful and wise man just like Telemachus is soon to be. As a young child Telemachus was not exactly the most powerful, he was pushed around by others. When he got to a certain age he really wanted to find out who his father truly was. Athena a goddess and a great friend of Telemachus agreed to go on a journey with him to find his father. Telemachus thinks that his father could possibly be died but is willing to find out. “We sailed the seas for this, for news of your father- where does he buried? what fate did he meet?”(pg. 108). As a young adult Telemachus was powerless and hopeless to find his father. He finds the courage and stealth to take a journey of the unknown, and is ready to face whatever he encounters to find his father. On his journey he meets a man named Nestor who is one of the wisest men in the land. If anyone knows about Odysseus it’s going to be him. In the beginning of book 3 Telemachus was shy and scared to go on such a journey but toward the end he stared taking charge. When he finds Nestor and demands answers about his father, it truly shows that he has changed into a man just like his father once was.
ReplyDeleteTelemachus was just a baby when his father, Odysseus left for troy and throughout the majority of his young adult life he was picked on and pushed around. He did not know to stick up for himself without the guidance of his father. Telemachus starts to mature on the trip to find his father. At the beginning of the trip when he arrives at Pylos he is still shy and afraid. He is told by the goddess, Athena “Telemachus, no more time for shyness, this is not the time! We sailed the seas for this, for news of your father- where does he lie buried? (108). in this quote Athena is trying to mature Telemachus for the rest of his journey. She is saying that if he does not start to become mature he will not find his father. At another point in the beginning in the journey Nestor asks Telemachus a question for the first time and the book says that Telemachus had the courage to answer the question because of the talk Athena gave him. So the start to Telemachus’ maturity and man hood start with people’s words shaping and inspiring him. Later in the journey Telemachus wishes to take revenge on the suitors who have pushed him around his whole life and starts to get angry about it. Telemachus says “If only the gods would arm me in such power I’d take revenge on the lawless, brazen suitors riding roughshod over me, plotting reckless outrage. But for me the gods have spun out no such joy, for my father or myself. I must bear up, that’s all” (114). In this quote Telemachus is saying that if he had the chance he would take revenge on the suitors. He is also saying that it is his time to man up and if he will not man up for his father is going to man up and be brave for his own good. Nestor tells Telemachus he once noticed the suitors pushing him and his mother around and noticed that Telemachus did not do anything about it. Telemachus replies saying it will never happen again and he now realizes what a pushover he was.
ReplyDeleteOn the path to his maturity, Telemachus is shaped into a man by other people’s words, and looking back at what a pushover he was.
At the beginning of The Odyssey, specifically the Telemacheia, or the the first 4 books, Telemachus is presented as a young, immature boy that grows into an older, wiser and stronger man. At the beginning of Telemacheia, it is clear that Telemachus has grown up with no father and is very immature knowing very little about the world around him. When his father did not return to Ithaca, suitors flooded into his palace, destroying his food, and stayed in his palace. At this point, he learns from Athena about his father more and decides he needs to grow up. Strongly indicating the importance, Athena states, “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer – it’s time you were a man.” (1.341-345). It is with this coming of age that Telemachus starts his journey to become like his father, and calls an assembly to tell all that he is the son of Odysseus and will rule his house accordingly. Later, Telemachus meets King Nestor. After showing sheer courage, asking for news about his father, he finds himself in another situation as the topic of suitors in his home arises in discussion. An old charioteer states, “Now that you mention it, dear boy, I do recall a mob of suitors, they say, besets your mother there in your own house, against your will, and plots your ruin. Tell me, though, do you let yourself be so abused, or do people round about, stirred up by the prompting of some god, despise you now? Who knows if he will return someday to take revenge on all their violence?” (3.239-246). Telemachus firmly replies, “Never, your majesty, that will never come to pass, I know. What you say has dumbfounded me, staggers imagination!” (3.254-257). These quotes express how Telemachus has done more than realize how bad the suitors are in his palace. He is returning home with a newfound vengeance for the suitors. This journey has shaped Telemachus. As Telemachus embarks on a journey, the character of Telemachus changes by leaving his home with the suitors and experiencing real life situations and how to deal with them, the suitors in his own home being one of them.
ReplyDeleteTelemachus’s journey is accompanied by a lot of growth in his own confidence, self-respect, and respect he gains from others. In the beginning, the suitors have control over his home and do not respect Telemachus at all, as they keep living off of his wealth and taking much more than is their right as guests. Telemachus doesn’t seem to try to stop them, since he is wishing for his father to come and “drive these suitors all in a rout throughout the halls/and regain his pride of place and rule his own domains!” (1.136-7). He doesn’t have much confidence in himself and doesn’t make any attempt to take charge. Then, Athena comes and inspires him to make a move. He takes her advice and calls out the suitors on their greediness in front of all the islanders, which is a show of more confidence and self-respect in Telemachus. He acknowledges his own right to his wealth and takes charge of it, demanding more respect from the suitors. This is a big character growth, since he is moving from thinking about getting rid of the suitors to actively making an effort to remove the suitors. He also pushes back against the suitors’ responses, which again shows that he has more confidence. Then, when he visits Nestor and Menelaus, they both respect him enough to offer him gifts. Telemachus is also more self-assured and confident, which results in him being more tactful and respectful to the two kings. Throughout the Telemachiad, Telemachus grows as a character in confidence and respect.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning, Telemachus is young and powerless. Originally, he was a pushover, because his dad left him so young, he never learned to be a hero. This leads to him not growing up until much later in his life. He was always relying on his father coming home and saving his mother, and himself, from the suitors, and taking control of his kingdom once again. But, there was a point where he got so fed up with the suitors that he decided that he needed to make them leave, so he tells them off. This was a big moment for Telemachus, as it is him taking control of a situation for the first time in his life. Before this everyone treated him like a powerless, young, pushover. After this incident, he really starts to do take charge, and show more signs of growing up. He goes on a short journey to find out what happened to his father and, in doing so, he realizes that he must live up to his father’s ego. He realizes that his father might not ever come back, and he must undergo substantial changes in both his personality and his views of the world. There are comparisons in the book between Telemachus and Orestes, and how Orestes became a hero when needed. When Orestes’s father, Agamemnon, returned from the Trojan War, his mother, in collusion with Aigisthos, kills Agamemnon. This leads to Orestes seeking vengeance for this father by killing both Aigisthos and his mother. Telemachus realizes that he must be a hero, but it took him a while to grow up.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story, Telemachus has shown a drastic change. When his father, Odyssey, went off to Troy, Telemachus was only a baby. He was abandoned while Odysseus was setting off to fight in Troy, while Telemachus was left to be the man of the house at such a young age, which has caused him to be isolated from most of the people around him. He had decided to embark to go find his dad, by meeting new people that are close with his father. He came across Athena, the goddess of wisdom, a woman who knows his father. Telemachus questions the strange woman “Who are you? Where are you from? Your city? Your parents? … I need to know – is this your first time here? Or are you a friend of father’s, a guest from the good old days?” (83). Athena responds “As for the ties between your father and myself, we’ve been best friends forever, I’m proud to say, and he would bear me out if you went and questioned old lord Laertes… I tell you that Odysseus is not dead. He’s still alive somewhere in this wide world,” (84). Telemachus got more information from the goddess and went on his way to go and find his father. On the way, he met a lot of kings and Queens that also are familiar with his father and where he is, to help Telemachus on his journey. From the people he met on his journey and the places he had gone to, to find his father, he quickly arouse to be a more mature and assertive man.
ReplyDeleteFrom the start of The Odyssey, the character of Telemachus seems like an important one. Throughout the story, Telemachus seems to grow and change as a character, person, and man. When he was young he did not have much confidence in himself and he was very shy so the suitors walked all over him doing whatever they wanted and were terrible guests to him. They would take all the food and kill animals from the barns and much worse that no normal guest would do. As he gets older he realizes that he needs to step up to people and become the king and take his fathers place when it seems like he is gone. Athena shows him that by coming to Ithaca and talking to him. Telemachus then shows that he is not a young boy any more by standing up to the horrible suitors and calls a meeting to get them out of his house. This meeting was the first one called since Odysseus left ten years earlier. This was a very important part of the book and showed that Telemachus isn’t just a young boy anymore he is growing up and becoming a man. Also he really shows that he isn’t a young boy anymore when he decides to go try to find his father and bring him back home. He makes this decision with Athena and they both embark on a trip to find Odysseus. The Suitors take advantage that Telemachus isn’t there anymore so when he returns they plan to assassinate him so there is nothing to stop the suitors from getting to Penelope. So they think.
ReplyDeleteFrom the start of The Odyssey, the character of Telemachus seems like an important one. Throughout the story, Telemachus seems to grow and change as a character, person, and man. When he was young he did not have much confidence in himself and he was very shy so the suitors walked all over him doing whatever they wanted and were terrible guests to him. They would take all the food and kill animals from the barns and much worse that no normal guest would do. As he gets older he realizes that he needs to step up to people and become the king and take his fathers place when it seems like he is gone. Athena shows him that by coming to Ithaca and talking to him. Telemachus then shows that he is not a young boy any more by standing up to the horrible suitors and calls a meeting to get them out of his house. This meeting was the first one called since Odysseus left ten years earlier. This was a very important part of the book and showed that Telemachus isn’t just a young boy anymore he is growing up and becoming a man. Also he really shows that he isn’t a young boy anymore when he decides to go try to find his father and bring him back home. He makes this decision with Athena and they both embark on a trip to find Odysseus. The Suitors take advantage that Telemachus isn’t there anymore so when he returns they plan to assassinate him so there is nothing to stop the suitors from getting to Penelope. So they think.
ReplyDeleteTelemachus grows immensely throughout the Odyssey. Telemachus starts off as a young, immature, boy with not much knowledge and power, however he grows to be a confident, strong, extremely bright and devious man. In the beginning of the book, Telemachus was far inferior to the suitors. He allowed the suitors to control himself and his home, and only dreamed of what his life would be like if his father was there to drive the suitors away. Telemachus wishes that, “He [Odysseus] might drop from the clouds and drive these suitors all in a rout throughout the halls and regain his pride of place and rule his own domains,” (1.135-137). Telemachus clearly does not believe that he alone could defeat the suitors and allow him to live a happy life, so he wishes his father could do it all or him, however, later in the book he proves his growth when he travels alone to find his father. Telemachus clearly truly develops when he sets out to find his father. Zeus even believes Telemachus is extremely capable of this challenge when he states, “Telemachus? Sail him home with all your skill-the power is yours, no doubt-home to his native country all unharmed while the suitors limp to port, defeated, baffled men,” (5.28-31). This clearly proves how much growth Telemachus has endured throughout such little of the book. Telemachus can only dream about what his life would with his father home and without the suitors in the first chapter, and in chapter five Telemachus is attempting to make his dream come true when he sets out to find his father and destroy the suitors. Zeus, the most powerful Olympian god, even believes Telemachus can do this, which proves how much Telemachus has grown in such a short time.
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