Thursday, April 4, 2013
Fathers and Sons
During Telemachus' journey to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, he meets or hears about several fathers and sons. He encounters Nestor and his son Psistratos, meets Menelaus as he celebrates his son's wedding and hears about the story of Agamemnon and his son Orestes. From these relationships, what can we learn about the proper relationship between father and son in Bronze Age Greece? What are a father's duties to his son -- and a son's duties to his father? What does a father teach his son?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I believe that a father is supposed to teach his son the proper way of live life, however Telemachus does not receive this directly from his father, and instead gets this from Athena who begins to take on this role. The ideal father is teaching his son how to handle life’s problems and the best way to respond to everything. With this being said, Telemachus has lived his entire life in question of who is father even is and if he still has a father. Telemachus is learning how to handle life’s problems on his own the best way he can. However, as Telemachus is growing up, Athena is beginning to take on the role of a father. She is teaching him how to live life, how to stand up for himself, and most importantly, how to grow up to be a man. Telemachus takes this to heart because he decides to venture off on his own and find out answers to questions he’s been asking his entire life. Athena is also using her role to mentor Telemachus as he grows up. She plants the idea of an adventure in Telemachus’ head in the hopes he will figure out what he wants to do with the information. In terms of a father, I believe that their duties to their son include, helping them throughout life to make the right decisions, and to be there for them to watch them grow up. One of the best things in having a parent is knowing that someone is always there to cheer you and steer you in the right direction. I think with Telemachus missing this, he has a lot of doubt, and needs second opinions for things because he is not as strong minded and confident all the time.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Odyssey it is evident that the father plays a dominant figure in the father son relationships. The son looks up to his father and tries to grow up to be just like him. During these times, the father would play as a role model for the son and the son must one day achieve and become just like his father. In addition to that, the father is meant to guide his kid in the right direction; tell him what to do and make him learn how to become an adult. The father teaches the son how to grow up and be a righteous man. In the case of Telemachus and Orestes, their fathers weren’t there to watch them grow up. They didn’t have a father figure in their lives to lead them and teach them what to do, yet somehow they managed to grow up and become just like their fathers and even greater. With the case of Nestor and his son Psistratos, it is evident that Psistratos listens and follows all that his father tells him to do. I believe this kind of relationship stems from how the culture views of what a son’s duties are and the fact that the son trusts his father. The father’s duties to a son are to teach the son how to behave or set a standard for him to follow. Also, the father must let the child grow up to be the man he is ought to be, never bail on him on purpose, the son needs his father in his life. In return, the son must do everything in his power to live up to his father’s standards and be the man he is destined to be along with following and listening to his father. In many ways, the father doesn’t necessarily have to be there for the son to know how he must behave, it is the evidence and the knowledge the son knows about his father that leads him in the right direction. As long as the son is being taught by someone in his life how to grow up and what his father was like, the son has a high chance of becoming the man he is ought to be.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between father and sons is characterized by son fulfilling expectations set forth by their fathers and sons respecting their father. Orestes is following Agamemnon’s footsteps because they are both warriors. There is probably some type of honor that is derived from doing as your father does. Also, Telemachus is becoming a great leader, just like his father. So something that is safe to say is the son should follow in the father’s footsteps. Even if the son does not have a close relationship with their father, they still have the duty to respect their father. Also, the son should respect the father because the father fought for the mother and children to live an easier life.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship Between Odysseus and Telemachus is not as strong as it could be because they are separated. While Telemachus is at home with his mother Penelope, Odysseus is fighting in the Trojan War. Despite being separated from his father Telemachus still feels a moral obligation to go find his father. When Telemachus did not mature until the suitor came and he realized that he needed to grow up to protect him mother, I don’t think that he would have matured as fast as he did because his father was not there. The fact that his father is not there benefited him.
ReplyDelete