How Does Telemachus Come Of Age In The Odyssey?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Prince Telemachus stands against more than a hundred suitors with only his father and a couple of herdsmen on his side. He fights valiantly, earning his father’s respect and trust. He also acts very mature when he takes responsibility for leaving the storeroom door open .

How has Telemachus mature in the Odyssey?

Through the help of Athena, he learns different character traits and qualities such as bravery that helps him to mature into a man worth the title of a prince of Ithaca. Odysseus’ son the help of Athena. ... Again, Athena plays a huge role in the maturity of Telemachus, especially on the trip to Sparta and Pylos.

How old was Telemachus when Odysseus?

Telemachus is between twenty and twenty-one years old in The Odyssey.

How does Telemachus develop throughout the epic?

During the epic, Telemachus shows a great deal of growth from acting like a boy into being a mature man . He starts his journey being regarded as a child in front of the suitors at his father’s house, and his outburst in front of them furthered this opinion.

How does Telemachus help Odysseus?

After he joins his father and is made an important part of the king’s plot to overcome the suitors, a good deal of Telemachus’ motivation is based on faith. ... At the showdown with the suitors in the great hall, he is shrewd enough to get his mother out of the line of fire and mature enough to be a real help to Odysseus.

What age did Telemachus leave?

Odysseus’s son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy, Telemachus is about twenty at the beginning of the story.

What is Telemachus searching for as the odyssey begins?

Telemachus is searching for news of his father , who has not been heard from since he left for war nearly 20 years earlier. He journeys secretly to the Peloponnese and seeks out two men who fought with Odysseus in the war at Troy, Nestor and Menelaus, and discovers that his father is indeed still alive.

How old is Odysseus in The Odyssey?

For him to have been 35–40 years old at this time seems the most reasonable to me. This would place Odysseus’ age at 45–50 when he actually returns to Ithaca 10 years later.

How does Telemachus develop as a character?

The growth in Telemachus has now proved him to be a proactive man with the dignity and power that resembles his father, Odysseus. Though his chat with Athena, Telemachus was able to grow and understand what he needs to do to save his father. ... 430-431) Telemachus gained courage and kicked out the suitors from his house.

How are Odysseus and Telemachus different?

They differ because Telemachus is so inexperienced in life while his father, Odysseus, has plenty. Another way they differ one another is because while Odysseus receives hospitality from others , his son, Telemachus, gives it out.

How is Telemachus like Odysseus?

Telemachus’ and his father Odysseus’ experiences/journeys parallel each other in many different ways. One way that they are both similar is that they are both very well liked by Athena , who accompanies both on their journeys around Greece. Athena acts as guardian to both father and son.

How is Telemachus a hero in the Odyssey?

Their son Telemachus is the true hero in The Odyssey. The reader should be able to identify with him the most and realize everything that has happened in his life and he deals with it with extreme heroism. He handles the situation in his life the way every human being should.

What does Telemachus do in the Odyssey?

Telemachus, in Greek mythology, son of the Greek hero Odysseus and his wife, Penelope. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in search of his wandering father. On his return, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him. Then father and son slew the suitors who had gathered around Penelope.

How is Telemachus loyal to Odysseus?

Showing not only unyielding loyalty but respect for a man whose stories he has only heard. In fact when Telemachus first meets Odysseus, after being convinced it really is his father, he immediately agrees to help the man take revenge , doing everything as his father orders as if he had known the man all his life.

Who kills Odysseus?

The royal couple, together again after ten long years of separation, lived happily ever after, or not quite. For in a tragic final twist, an aged Odysseus was killed by Telegonos , his son by Circe, when he landed on Ithaca and in battle, unknowingly killed his own father.

What does Telemachus symbolize?

In Greek mythology, Telemachus is the son of Odysseus. ... When, as an infant Telemachus fell into the ocean, dolphins saved him in tribute, Odysseus wore the emblem of the dolphins as a symbol on his shield. The name Telemachus means “far from battle.”

How did Odysseus died?

Raiding the land for provisions, he was met by Odysseus in combat and killed him without knowing he was his father. Odysseus ended up dying from a spear tipped in the venom of a stingray that actually fulfilled Teiresias’s prediction of Odysseus’s death coming from the sea.

What challenges does Telemachus face in the Odyssey?

Finally, like other great heroes, Telemachus has significant obstacles to overcome: the absence of his father, and the presence of the suitors who have taken over his house . In the poem, he successfully surmounts these obstacles: his father returns, and together they kill the suitors.

Why is Telemachus angry in the beginning of the Odyssey?

Why is Telemachus irritated at his mother? Telemachus is mad at her because she is just sitting there staring at Odysseus in disbelief when he has been gone for 20 years , she is hesitant to talk to him. ... Penelope thinks that the gods killed the suitors because she thinks Odysseus couldn’t have done it all by himself.

How does Telemachus feel about the suitors?

Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, now a young man, is frustrated with the suitors. Telemachus laments to Athena (disguised as Mentes, one of Odysseus’ guest-friends) about the suitors’ behavior. In return, Athena urges Telemachus to stand up to the suitors and set out in search of his father.

Who is Telemachus in the poem Ulysses?

Telemachus: The son of Odysseus and Penelope (Hom. Od. i. 216).

How many years old is the Odyssey?

“The Odyssey” relates 3,000 year-old epic poem to today’s immigrant stories.

Does Odysseus cheat on his wife?

When Odysseus left Ithaca for the Trojan war he was married to Penelope. ... After that Odysseus traveled to Calypso’s island. Not only did he cheat with Calypso in addition to Circe, but he stayed on her island for seven years until Zeus ordered her to release him.

How is Telemachus courageous?

A character that represents great courage in the Odyssey is Telemachus. Telemachus shows courage by setting out on a journey, unknowing of whether he’ll find his father or not . It takes courage to abruptly abandon a life of constant familiarity, and security, to a life of constant uncertainty, and danger.

What is Telemachus plan?

At first, Telemachus cannot believe his eyes, but then the two embrace and weep. ... He formulates a plan to launch a surprise attack from within the palace : Odysseus will enter disguised as a beggar and Telemachus will hide the palace’s surplus arms where the suitors cannot easily reach them.

What does Telemachus learn from Menelaus?

What does Telemachus think this means about Odysseus? ... What does Telemachus learn from Menelaus? Telemachus learns that his dad is stuck on an island being held against his will by the goddess Calypso and the he wants to go home . How is Telemachus different by the end of Book 4 than he is in the beginning?

What are Telemachus strengths and weaknesses?

He was also very loyal to his father and had high hopes for bringing him back. Weaknesses : Telemachus lacked courage in the beginning of the epic . He often had a hard time standing up to the suitors that was taking over his home.

Who was loyal to Odysseus while he was gone?

Mythology. In Homer’s Odyssey, Philoetius is Odysseus’s primary cowherd. He remains loyal to Odysseus for the entire duration of Odysseus’s absence from his kingdom. When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca after being away for twenty years, Philoetius is one of the few slaves who has not betrayed him.

How is Telemachus presented as a contrast to his father?

Telemachus never fully matches his father’s talents , at least not by The Odyssey’s conclusion. He has a stout heart and an active mind, and sometimes even a bit of a temper, but he never schemes with the same skill or speaks with quite the same fluency as Odysseus.

What is Telemachus threatened by?

Dueling eagles suddenly swoop near the assembly, which the seer Halitherses interprets as a sign of Odysseus’ return. Eurymachus , the other leading suitor, rudely interrupts the aging prophet and threatens Telemachus.

Amira Khan
Author
Amira Khan
Amira Khan is a philosopher and scholar of religion with a Ph.D. in philosophy and theology. Amira's expertise includes the history of philosophy and religion, ethics, and the philosophy of science. She is passionate about helping readers navigate complex philosophical and religious concepts in a clear and accessible way.