Odysseus And Telemachus Relationship Essay

Telemachus was the son of Odysseus, mighty king of Ithaca and hero of Athena. Telemachus was a mere infant when Odysseus set sail for Troy where he helped to conquer the Trojans and retrieve Menelaus’ wife Helen. Despite emerging victorious from the Trojan war, Odysseus hadn't succeeded in returning home to Ithaca, and so twenty-one years after his departure for Troy, his family and kingdom believed him to be dead. Telemachus had lived his entire life without his father and as the Odyssey begins, although twenty-one years of age, Telemachus seems to be a child and not a powerful young man. Telemachus was first portrayed as a somber young lad who's heart was stricken with grief for the loss of his father. He was daydreaming and keeping to himself

In Homer's, The Odyssey, Telemachus is called to action when the suitors of his mother push him to his breaking point, forcing Telemachus out of his ordinary world. “You must leave my palace! [...] destroying one man’s goods and going scot-free, all right then, carve away! But I’ll cry out to the everlasting gods in hopes that Zeus will pay you back with a vengeance—all of you destroyed in my house while I go scot-free myself!” (1.430-7). Telemachus, once a demure child, springs into action after the suitors ask him to kick his mother out of their home unless she marries one of the suitors. His ordinary world, one of timidness towards the suitors, is shattered as he stands up to them, mocks them, and threatens them with vengeance. Telemachus hasn’t had a father figure since Odysseus, his own father and the main character in The Odyssey, has never been in Telemachus’s life.

When humans let temptation consume them, it cuts off their common sense. This act of temptation occurred after Aiolos, the god of wind, gave Odysseus a gift in a bag that contained powerful winds. After nine days of staying awake on his ship with his crewmen, Odysseus finally fell into a deep slumber with ease since he was near his home, Ithaca. Unfortunately, Odysseus’ crewmen let their temptation take over them when they opened the wind bag thinking there were treasures inside. The wind inside the bag blew the ship all the way back to Aiolos island. Aiolos refused to help Odysseus return home when stated “Take yourself out of this island, creeping things, no law, no wisdom, lays it on me now to help a man the blessed gods detest otu! Your voyage here was cursed by heaven. The crewman's temptation allowed the whole crew of men to suffer severely when they returned to the obstacle they started with when they were so close to arriving

It is a new experience. Something is most definitely a nerve wracking and taxing. Like mentioned earlier it is very similar to a college freshman, this will be his first time on his own and to make it worse, he is by himself, on a boat. He has never been away from home before, let alone sailed on the open seas. Another obstacle that he has to cross during this separation stage of his journey is being separated from his mother. He has never been without his mother for an extended period of time and he will be leaving her alone with suitors that have been asking for her hand in marriage. These suitors show no evidence throughout the book that they treat Penelope with any sort of respect, they also don’t respect that Penelope still loves Odysseus. Telemachus has the right to be concerned about leaving his mother behind with these scoundrels.

Prince Telemachus of Ithaca was living in a world of greed and disrespect during his father's twenty-year hiatus. His father, King Odysseus, had set off to fight along with fellow Greeks in the Trojan War. After the war, all the Greeks who did not perish during the battles had made it back to their homelands, with the exception of Odysseus. During this time suitors had taken over Odysseus' palace and were courting his wife. It was time for Telemachus to take action against the crude suitors and become a mature adult. In "The Odyssey" by Homer, a young prince sets off to learn news about his father. At the same time Telemachus meets influential people who introduce him to a whole new world, which propels him to become a mature and

  The Odyssey was a great book in which many characters were brought out and developed.  The most significant development that occured in the epic was the development of Telemachus.  Telemachus is a very complex character that Homer develops from beginning to end.  From the beginning when is a mere shadow of his father to near the end in which he is considered just as courageous.  Many factors influence Telemachus as he matures into a man.

Leaving Telemachus to grow up without a father. In book 16 it says, “Think of a man who’s dear and only son, born to him in exile, reared with labor, has lived ten years abroad and now returns; How would that man embrace his son!” (Homer, 16, 19-22). Odysseus left Telemachus without a father for many years while he was at sea. Which would probably cause tension and doubtfulness in Telemachus when his father return. Due to the fact his has been gone for so many years. Another example of the father-son conflict is when Odysseus confronts Telemachus after Athena changes his clothes, “‘No god. Why take me for a god? No, no. I am that father whom your boyhood lacked and suffered pain for lack of. I am he.’ Held back for too long, the tears an down his cheeks as he embraced his son... ‘You cannot be my father Odysseus...’” (Homer, 16, 77-84). Because Telemachus has never really been with his father because he has been gone for so many years, it would make sense that he has doubts wether this man that just showed up is his father. Why should Telemachus beleive this man that just showed up and claimed to be his father? After all the men that have tried to be with Penelope in Odysseus’ absence he has the common sense to think that maybe someone is playing a cruel trick on him to be with Penelope.

Also, in book twelve: Scylla and Charybdis fate is demonstrated once again. Thirdly in the text, at this point Odysseus men disobeyed his order not to eat the plumed sheep’s, and Zeus help him realize that his men are not promising. Odysseus says on page 166, lines 372 to 373,”…so it was to ruin me the [Zeus] lulled me into a cruel sleep, while left to themselves my men planned this awful crime.” Zeus put Odysseus in a deep sleep so that Odysseus could see that his men are not promising; Odysseus men lack strength and they are very greedy. They only care for themselves! Furthermore, Zeus was punishing Odysseus and his men completely by destroying their boat. Odysseus says on page 167, lines 414 thru 416,”… Zeus thundered and struck the vessel with lighting. The whole ship reeled from the blow his bolt and was filled with the smell of sulphur…” This shows that Zeus is the reason why Odysseus couldn’t get home overall, because throughout the book we seen Zeus take charge more than once and that he is above all gods; therefore, Zeus is the reason Odysseus couldn’t get home.

In homer's Odyssey the main character Odysseus is a person who only tries to help himself. Although he earns the trust of his men while in Troy, he loses it on his perilous journey home. Many times in the epic he manipulates others, commits foolish acts and is full of hubris. He tries to take shortcuts and as a result of this is men are killed and his boats destroyed. He plays with the lives of his men and he is punished for it. Odysseus is not a hero because, he is foolish, lacks faithfulness and is consumed by his Hubris and selfishness.

One of the major themes of Homer’s Odyssey is the importance of cunning over strength. This also happens to be the case with Odysseus and his long ten year journey home from fighting in Troy. Odysseus uses his intelligence over strength to ‘fight’ through tough times and bring himself home to Ithaca. Odysseus uses his intelligence when he has his men tie him down while passing the Sirens, so he himself will be able to hear their beautiful song, but not be entranced by their singing. He also uses cunning to escape from the Cyclops’ cave without being harmed. He then uses his cunning by storing away all of the armory, shields, and knives from the suitors so he is able to kill them easily.

In the beginning of The Odyssey, Telemachus is not yet a man and not sure of himself yet. Embarking on a mission to find his father, he matures from a child to a strong, single-minded adult. Throughout the poem, Telemachus finds his place in the world and becomes a more well-rounded person. Although Telemachus never quite matches his father Odysseus in terms of wit, strength, agility, his resilience does develop throughout the text. In the epic, The Odyssey, by Homer, the young boy Telemachus changes from an insecure teen into a confident and poised young man as he travels the seas in search for his father, whose bravery and intelligence proves to be comparable to his own.

In the Odyssey Telemachus has varying relationships with his mother, Penelope, the suitors, and his nurse, Eurycleia; a mother and son but also head of household and subordinate member of the household, a young boy and superior men, and a son and mother but also a master and servant. In the poem, Telemachus must find out what became of his father, Odysseus, who never returned home from the Trojan war. Meanwhile suitors from various places try to force his mother, Penelope, into marriage while they deplete all of Odysseus’ resources and destroy his house. With all of these complicated situations, Telemachus must take on a variety of different roles depending on who he’s interacting with. Based on the text, Telemachus has superior, strained, and complex relationships with his mother, the suitors, and Eurycleia.

Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ journeys or nostos were both very similar and different. They parallel each other in some ways but they are also completely different at other times. Telemachus starts as a younger, less mature boy, and without the presence of his father during his childhood, he becomes a timid, shy and spineless boy who is greatly pampered by his mother. He has even more to achieve, being the son of a world-famous father, and this is a very difficult reputation to live up to. His journey, and after that the killing of the suitors who took advantage of him really show how his journeys and problems throughout the book mature him from being a shy, timid boy into a mature man. Odysseus’ journey also taught him about many things

This statement is very telling as it defines not only the appearance of the great Odysseus, but also the son he left behind. Furthermore, it begins to develop a timeline of actions by announcing that Odysseus left home when Telemachus was only a baby. Nestor recognizes that Odysseus ' appearance, vivacity, and personality are apparent in his progeny, Telemachus. This is encouraging to Telemachus as he hears that he resembles the great king Odysseus. As Telemachus presses for news of what has become of his father, Telemachus learns that his father may yet be alive and held captive by a goddess-nymph named Calypso. He then glorifies the strong will of Orestes and encourages Telemachus to do the same: "And you, my friend - / how tall and handsome I see you now - be brave, you too, / so men to come will sing your praises down the years." (3, 226 - 227).

The best part of being in love is not being together everyday. It ks being assured that even though you're miles and miles away, he will always be in love with you and only with you. If you feel that he is your true love you should be patience in waiting if you are in long distance relationship until the two of you will be together because distance never separates two hearts that really cares.