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?
In the beginning of the Odyssey, Odysseus’s son Telemachus was being overpowered by the suitors for his mom, Penelope. Telemachus told Athena, when she came to visit him as a stranger in disguise, about his mother’s suitors: “Look at them over there. Not a care in the world, / just lyres and tunes! It’s easy for them, all right / they feed on another’s goods and go scot-free.” (p. 82) This shows that he knows that the suitors are “parasites” living off his household and trying to marry his mother, but he does not do anything. This is because the they are all older than him, have weapons, and it’s all of them against himself and Penelope. But then after Athena’s visit, in which she “counseled [Telemachus] with so much kindness, like a father to a son” (p. 87), his spirits were lifted, and he at once began making preparations. First, he ordered his mother back to her own quarters, saying that “…for giving orders, / men will see to that, but I most of all: / I hold the reins of power in this house.” By saying that, he is acknowledging the fact that now he is the ruler of this kingdom and is stepping up to his father’s place. After that, he began facing the suitors and telling them that they were wrong; he finally began to speak up for himself. After standing up against the “insolent, overweening” (p. 89) suitors, and also causing them to hate him, he set off on the journey to find his father, Odysseus, thus becoming a man.
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ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the Odyssey Telemachus acts like a mere child when all of the suitors are taking control of Odysseus house. The Charter of Telemachus drastically changes when he is told by Athena “Look at them over there. Not a care in the world , just lyres and tunes! It’s easy for them, all right they feed on another’s goods and go scot free” (82). Athena thinks that the suitors are a plague in Telemachus house, and Telemachus is not doing anything to control them. Then after the meeting with Athena the first thing Telemachus does after, is call a council and tells all of the suitors “a worse disaster that soon will grind my house down, ruin it all, and all my worldly goods in the bargain. Suitors plague my mother - against her will” (2. 53-55). Here he is insulting all of the suitors that are insulting his mother, and they are being the most disrespectful guest and that no one should act like this. He is also telling them he despises them. The next thing that Telemachus did was Say to his Mother “He ordered his mother back to her own quarters” (87). This shows that he is starting to take the role of a man, and is Taking control of the house and giving commands to everyone that he has authority over.