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?
As the story develops, you can defiantly see a character change within Telemachus from a young boy into a young man. In the beginning, he was a very shy, so to say boy who didn’t really know his place in the world yet. He struggled a lot with where to find his inner voice and sometimes had a hard time voicing his opinion when it came to the way the suitors treated him and his mother. As the story goes along, we begin to see subtle changes in his character and can tell that as life begins to throw challenges at him, he is responding in the way of a young adult. At one point, he was directly told “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer – It’s time you were a man.” (1.341-5). This is a pivotal moment in Telemachus’ life because he realizes that now he has to be the man of the family. He can no longer sit and wait for his father’s return because he doesn’t even know if he has a father anymore. This is a point in his life where he has to step up to the plate and become more responsible and protect his mom and himself from any harm the suitors may cause. His character is also changing as he goes on his journey to seek his father. Right from the start, he decides to uproot himself and his men in pursuit of his father and doesn't even ask permission. This is a huge step from where he was before. Along in the journey, he is faced with some tough questions and decisions and he now has the poise and maturity to handle situations that before, he couldn't even begin to understand what was going on. I believe that as the story goes on, Telemachus will continue to mature and will go on to do great things.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what Tobili says in which Telemachus has realized that he has to take hold of his house while his father is gone, but I think the turning point when this happened came to him much sooner, but he didn’t take action until he finally stood up to the suitors.
ReplyDelete“You should be ashamed yourselves,
Mortified in the face of neighbors living round about!
Fear the gods’ wrath-before they wheel in outrage
And make these crimes recoil on your heads.” (2.069-072)
That was the first time Telemachus was able to stand up to the suitors and showed that he was growing up. He continued to progress thanks to the goddess Athena who brought him to Pylos on a boat which he commanded. To command a boat you need leadership and responsibility. Those are two traits that transform a boy into a man. Not only did he lead his ship, he then proceeded to go straight to King Nestor and with great courage and no shyness asked where he might find his father. Telemachus had exemplified that he had grown up by expressing certain traits that are seen in men and not boys such as courage, leadership, and responsibility.
Throughout the epic, Telemachus seems to grow into his role of being the man of his house very well. At the beginning, he is an immature child who would party with the suitors regularly, oblivious to the fact that they were there to pursue his mother’s hand because his father was gone for so long. His character evolves throughout the story from a young boy to a man who will take control. Because of his past, he has a hard time proving to the older, more responsible people left to be in charge in Odysseus’ wake, but he demonstrates pretty easily that he is ready to take on the role. An example of when he proves that he is ready to be responsible is when he decides to step up against the suitors and tells his mother,
ReplyDelete“So, mother,
go back to your quarters. Tend to you own tasks,
the distaff and the loom, and keep the women
working hard as well. As for giving orders,
men will see to that, but most of all:
I hold the reins of power in this house” (1. 409-414).
His mother had been dealing with a lot of stressful things at the time, such as fending off the suitors and running her palace, so this must have come with some relief to her. Telemachus finally realizes that although he is not sure what his father was like or if he even has a father anymore, he understands that his role as a son is to be his father’s legacy and he has to honor him. By trying to live up to his father he makes himself an overall more responsible person and therefore he becomes the man of the house; being the man in a house is not given, it is earned. Telemachus definitely proves that he is ready to be known as the man of the house until his father returns because of his brave and quite sudden decision to go search for him.
As the story progresses Telemachus realizes that since his father is gone he must take control of his household. Since Odysseus is not present it forces Telemachus to grow up incredibly quickly. Through the story you see that Telemachus has changed from a young man to a young adult. The experiences that Telemachus faces makes him turn into a well-rounded individual. A point in the story when you see that Telemachus has grown is when he goes to Menelaus to find out information about his father. Through the book Telemachus becomes more courageous and people start to recognize who he is. Menelaus says,
ReplyDelete“you must be born of kings, bred by the gods to wield the royal scepter.
No mean men could sire sons like you” (4.71-74.)
Menelaus notices how composed and how grown up Telemachus. Telemachus made such a dramatic change in a short period of time. He is so well composed that Menelaus thinks that he was bred by the gods. He doesn't believe that a man could have bred a person as perfect as him. Menelaus also believes that he was born to a king. This implies that Telemachus acts like a son of royalty. This means that he acts prestige’s and carries himself well.
Over the course of this book Telemachus reaches the point of becoming a man. In the beginning, he was frail and immature to the roles of being a prince. He could not handle the pressure set by the suitors and was left unable to control his people. When Telemachus sets out to find is father, a sudden shift was made. Suddenly he was able to speak against Greek Leaders as well as conducting his own search to find his father. Many could argue this was mainly due to his sidekick, Athena. Athena guided Telemachus the whole way and was there for him every time he needed her. She taught him how to speak his own mind and make his own decisions. This quote in book 2 line 310 symbolizes how Telemachus learns to become even greater than his father.
ReplyDelete"Few sons are equal of their fathers;
most fall short, all too few surpass them
But you, brave and adept from this day on,
Odysseus' cunning has hardly given out in you-
there's hope that you will reach you goal." (2.310- 2.314)
This quote said by Athena talks about how Telemachus has changed for the better. He learned from his father’s mistakes and became an honorable man.When Menelaus gave Telemachus the word on how to find his father, a sudden spark went off inside him. Suddenly he gained a new devotion in his life and a new purpose. His desire made the fire inside of him start burning. This enabled him to fight for himself and learn how to be a leader. Telemachus changes by how he suddenly knows how to conduct himself and he finally learns how to handle problems on his own (although at this time he had the help of Athena). His character shifts from the scared little boy into a man willing to speak out for himself and will stop at nothing to get his father back.
I believe that Telemachus has changed a great deal since he started his journey. He has changed many ways, and this has made him a stronger man, and leader for his people. First, I believe that Telemachus has changed in the sense of being a better leader. I believe that this is correct because instead of being at home, and having the suitors push him around, he now is forced to lead his crew in sailing to the different locations, which Athena has told him to go. I believe that this change is better for the city of Ithaca as a whole because now that Telemachus knows the value of being a good leader, he will be able to get the suitors, which are trying to marry his mother. The second way that Telemachus has changed is he is now stricter with his rules, and has learned to fend for himself. Before his journey, the suitors, whom had overtaken his palace, pushed around Telemachus. He was criticized, and made fun of by the people of Ithaca. His journey taught him he needs to be tougher with many people so that he is able to get his way. He has learned to be tough with his crew so that they always obey what he says. He needs to fend for himself in finding his father because there is no one there to help him get information, just himself. Before his journey, Telemachus was scared to ask anyone for anything because he lived in the constant fear of being criticized. Now he needs to realize that in order for people to give you information, you need to be strict, and you need to deliver the message in a clear way. This journey as a whole taught Telemachus that it is important to grow up, and do things for himself.
ReplyDeleteThroughout The Odyssey, Telemachus makes an incredible change from boyhood to manhood. At the beginning of the story, he is,
ReplyDelete“sitting among the suitors, heart obsessed with grief.
He could almost see his magnificent father, here…” (1. 133 – 134)
This statement shows how Telemachus stood idly by as he watched suitors destroy his home and bother his mother. Since he was extremely immature at the beginning of the story, all he was capable of doing was imagining and wishing that his father would return home and regain control of his kingdom. As the book progresses, Telemachus turns rapidly from a bystander who simply watches as his home life is destroyed, to some sort of hero. He abruptly takes action and decides to go off and save his father. He gathers a crew and decides, by himself, to sail away to retrieve his father from far- away lands that he was forced to wander in for years. Telemachus did not need any urging or prodding to take action to save his father, but rather came up with the idea and did everything to carry it out by himself. This shows his transformation from boyhood to manhood, which is how Telemachus changes throughout the book. While it is extremely relevant to the reader, who has an outside perspective of the changes Telemachus goes through, even Menelaus, a man who had only heard of Telemachus, noticed his extreme level of maturity when he states,
“Your father’s son you are – your words have all his wisdom” (4. 229)
This quote shows that Menelaus believes that Telemachus is quite intelligent, as Odysseus is incredibly cunning and full of wisdom. This shows just how Telemachus changes throughout the story.
Telemachus has made a remarkable alteration from childhood to the adult lifestyle he lives now. Telemachus had to deal with so much at the beginning of the book, such as living with his mother, and taking care of her without his father, Odysseus. At the beginning of this epic, you could even depict Telemachus as a child that still has many things he needs to learn about raising his mother, and taking care of people. He was “sitting among the suitors, heart obsessed with grief. He could almost see his magnificent father, here…” (1. 133 – 134). But throughout this epic, in between a few books, you practically see Telemachus grow before your eyes. He is battling, and he is taking after his father who is a great warrior. Telemachus is standing up for not only himself, but for the people he cares about as well. For instance, Athena, Zeus’ daughter, favors Odysseus very much. After she sees Telemachus as such a weak young man, she takes act and attempts at strengthening his morals, as well as himself. She says “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer - / it’s time you were a man. Haven’t you heard / what glory Prince Orestes won throughout the world / when he is killed that cunning, murderous Aegisthus, / who’d killed the famous father?” (1. 341-345). This message from Athena strengthened Telemachus because she compared this young man, to the Prince Orestes, who was also a young man, but Orestes took power into his own hands and became a hero. Thus opening Telemachus’ eyes to take act in the show, rather than sit back and watch. These examples both show the progression Telemachus went through in the epic of the Odyssey.
ReplyDelete