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The Journey of Odysseus and Telemachos
In The Odyssey written by Homer and translated by
Richard Lattimore, several themes are made evident,
conceived by the nature of the time period, and customs
of the Greek people. These molded and shaped the
actual flow of events and outcomes of the poem. Beliefs
of this characteristic were represented by the sheer
reverence towards the gods and the humanities the Greek
society exhibited, and are both deeply rooted within the
story.
In the intricate and well-developed plot of The Odyssey,
Homer harmonized several subjects. One of these, was
the quest of Telemachos, (titled Telemachy) in
correlation with the journey of his father. In this, he is
developed from a childish, passive, and untested boy, to
a young man preparing to stand by his fathers side. This
is directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that
they both lead to the same finale, and are both stepping
stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship.
Through these voyages certain parallels are drawn
concerning Odysseus and Telemachos: the physical
journeys, the mental preparations they have produced,
and what their emotional status has resulted in. These all
partake a immense role in the way the story is set up,
stemming from the purpose of each character’s journey,
their personal challenges, and the difficulties that surround
them.
The story commences when Odysseus, a valiant hero of
the Trojan war, journeys back home. Together with his
courageous comrades, and a several vessels, he set sail
for his homeland Ithaca. Fated to wander for a full ten
years, Odysseus’s ships were immediately blown to
Thrace by a powerful storm. The expedition had begun.
Upon this misfortune, he and his men started a raid on the
land of the Cicones. However, this only provided them
with temporary success. The Cicones had struck back
and defeated a vast majority of Odysseus’s crew. This
was their first of many disastrous experiences to come.
Storms then blew his ships to Libya and the land of the
Lotus-eaters, where the crew was given Lotus fruit from
which most lost their entire memories from home.
Odysseus, and the others who had not tasted it,
recovered the sailors by force, and set sail again,
westward, this time to the island of the Cyclops, a wild
race of one-eyed giants. Leaving most of his men in a
sheltered cove, Odysseus then entered the island with
one crew only. They wandered around, encountering,
and foolishly entering an immense cave, awaiting the
owner. Moments later, a Cyclops named Polyphemos,
son of Poseidon, entered and pushed a huge bolder
covering the entrance to the cave. Upon this, he
immediately ate two sailors, and promised to eat the
others in due time. The morning came, and Polyphemos
had promptly eaten two more seamen, against the will of
Zeus. Odysseus, soon realized that killing him asleep
would do no good since the mouth of the cave was still
inescapable. The captain had then devised a new plan.
When Polyphemos returned that evening, Odysseus
showered the monster with wine until he had fallen under
a drunken spell. Then, with the help of his companions
took a sharp pole and rammed it into his large eye,
blinding him instantaneously. As the crew sailed away
into the vast dimensions of the sea, Odysseus had
unwisely revealed his name in taunting the poor beast,
boasting his excessive pride. Polyphemos then made a
prayer to his father, asking to punish the man who had
caused him this harm.
Several days later Odysseus and his men arrived at the
island of Aeolus, keeper of the winds. There, they stayed
for about one month, and departed, in sight of the
long-awaited Ithaca. However, before they left,
Odysseus was presented with a container of winds,
carrying each but the needed West wind. As Ithaca
approached, the crew not knowing the contents of the
skin, opened it up and released all of the winds,
depositing the ships back at the island of Aeolus, who
refused to help them any further.
Setting sail once again, the group headed back west,
where they had come across the Island of the
Laesrtygonians, a savage race of cannibals. Everyone,
but Odysseus, lined their ships at the harbor, covered
with rocks. The entire party was attacked and eaten by
the Laestrygonians, who had bombarded them with giant
boulders. Having but one vessel left, Odysseus sailed his
ship to the Island of Dawn, inhabited by the sorceress
Circe.
A group of men were sent to explore the island, who
were then lured, feasted, and the turned to swine by
Circe. Knowing this Odysseus went after her, and on his
way encountered Hermes who gave him a potion to
withstand the spell. Circe tried, and then she failed.
Odysseus had then requested for his crew to be turned
back to normal. She complied, and eventually housed
Odysseus and his shipmates long enough for him to father
three children. Homesick and distraught, Odysseus was
then advised by Circe to search the underworld for
Teiresias, to tell him his fortune, and how to appease
Poseidon.
Odysseus agreed and made a trip to the underworld,
where he discovered many of his dead companions from
Troy, and most importantly, Teiresias. With his new
knowledge, he returned to Circe, which had provided
him with just the information he needed to pass the
Sirens. They then departed from the island and continued
on there journey, ears filled with wax.
What Odysseus was about to encounter next would be a
very difficult task. He needed to direct his ship through a
straight, between two cliffs, on one side the whirlpool
Charybdis, on the other, a monster Scylla. Trying hard to
avoid Charybdis Odysseus came too close to Scylla, and
six members of his ship suffered the consequences. As
the journey continued the Island of Helios stood in path.
Helios was the sun-god, and nurturer of the cattle of the
gods. Knowing this, but at the same time extraordinarily
hungry, Odysseus waited for his sea-mates to fall asleep
and slaughtered several of the cattle. This was much
considered a lack of respect not only to Helios, but to the
rest of the gods as well.
Zeus, angered by his gesture, struck his ship with
thunder, destroying the entire thing and killing the rest of
the crew except for Odysseus, which floated off to the
Island of Ogygia, where he would there spend the next
seven years, made a lover, by the sea nymph Calypso.
Upon Poseidon’s departure to Ethiopia, Zeus had then
ordered that Calypso release Odysseus, who gave him
an ax. With this, he constructed a float, and continued his
expedition. Back from his trip, Poseidon, saw Odysseus
floating in the ocean and felt compelled to drown him,
which he almost did, if it was not for the goddess Ino,
who had spared him a magic veil. He tied this to his
waist, and swam to a beach where he immediately fell
asleep.
The next morning he was awoken by maidens playing ball
after doing the wash. There he saw Nausikaa, daughter
of king Alkinoos. Odysseus gently supplicated to the
princess. She first took him to the inhabitants of the
island, the Phaiakians, and then Alkinoos, the king. There
he listened to Odysseus’s stories, and presented him with
lavish gifts and a furnished ship back to Ithaca. Resenting
this fact, Poseidon turned the new crew into stone for
their generosity.
This is the time, nearly twenty years after his fathers
departure, Athene wisely advises the worried, and still
immature Telemachos to go in search of his father.
Telemachos agrees with her orders, and before his
departure he makes it clear to the suitors (robbing his
home and proposing marriage to his mother Penelope)
that he wants them all out of his house.
He then requested a ship and twenty men, and sailed off
to the Island of Pylos. There he was immediately greeted
by Nestor, in the middle of offering 81 bulls to Poseidon.
Peisistratos, son of Nestor, then offered some intestines
to Telemachos and Athene as far as sacrificing it in hopes
of a safe journey. This was ironic since in reality, Athene
was controlling his journey, and on the other hand,
moments ago, Poseidon, was in fact destroying the
journey of his father. Nestor, once seeing that his guests
were finished feasting, asked of their identities. Once he
was recognized, Telemachos asked Nestor about his
father. Nestor rambled on and said nothing of real
importance to Telemachos. At this point Telemachos
became pessimistic, and Athene reassured him with an
analogy of Agamemnon’s short journey, and it’s
consequences. Still emotionally unstable, Telemachos
used this opportunity to speak of Menaleus,
Agamemnon’s brother.
Nestor agreed that Menaleus may be more
knowledgeable that he, and kindly provided him with a
chariot, so that he could travel to Sparta to speak with him, accompanied
by Peisistratos. He arrived at Sparta two days later, sleeping in the house
of Diocles the first night, and arriving by nightfall the second day. He
reached the island just in the middle of a double marriage ceremony of
Menaleus’s daughter and son.
At this point, Homer cleverly compared Menaleus to Odysseus in the
reader’s mind by suggesting the similarities between the both in
background, and undoubtedly survival. He also used this scene to
emphasize Telemachos’s emotional instability as he burst out crying at the
mention of his father’s name. The night ended and Telemachos was finally
noticed to be Odysseus’s son by Helen, Menaleus’s wife. Once this took
place, he conclusively mentioned his purpose in visiting: To find
information about his father. Menaleus answered Telemachos by speaking
of his journey from Troy, and reassuring Telemachos of his father’s wit
and cleverness, and almost certain survival.
After the men finished talking, Menaleus showered him with complements
and gifts (one refused, one accepted), and then Telemachos left, feeling
good about himself once again.
After this event, the scene changes back to Ithaca where the suitors were
planning their ambush on the young prince. Telemachos went back home, only to find out that his
father had already arrived before him. This sets Odysseus (disguised as a beggar) and Telemachos
up for the big scene against the suitors, where father and son, side by side, rid Ithaca of its cancerous
cells, and reunite the royal family. Odysseus then appeased and sacrificed to the god Poseidon in
the name of his misbehavior.
As Homer makes it apparent, there are other underlying themes embedded in the story that would
just confuse the reader if they were not there. An example of this is the emotional aspects of both
characters. If one does not understand this key element, their is no way that the sequence of events
would cohere. Why didn’t Telemachos look for his father earlier? Why did Penelope wait twenty
years to consider remarrying? How did this affect Odysseus in his journey?. These are questions
that would go unanswered unless the reader reaches within the emotions of the character.
In the case of Telemachos, his emotions shaped his well being. For example, had it not been for
Athene giving him confidence, by no means would he ever have thought of taking such a voyage,
hence, Telemachos would have never participated in his final test against the suitors either. His
sorrow and anger from the loss of his father and his mother constantly being attacked and proposed
to by piranha-like suitors were also driving forces towards his journey. Some of these are brought
out in different situations, both positive and negative, such as Menaleus’s mention of his father, which
caused a sudden out-burst of tears, and the proud and accomplished feeling he received from leaving
Sparta..
Odysseus’s situation was only slightly different. He, like Telemachos had his worries about
family-life, and his kingdom at stake, but also had concerns about his wife, possibly triggered by the
mention of Agamemnon’s by Proteus, who was killed by the hands of his own wife. These factors
probably had taken their toll on Odysseus. At the same time he had the wrath of Poseidon to
contend with. Another factor which could have also lead to this distress could have been his visit to
the underworld, and in his entire journey, losing friends and comrades regularly.
The last object of these journeys and possibly the most important to the reader, is comprehending
how these travels actually led to the final test: The battle against the suitors. This is considered the
poem’s mental perspective. Odysseus had many things to overcome before he would be ready to
take on this responsibility. His journey prepared him for that. For one, if he had not have perfected
his tolerance abroad and finely tuned his hubris problems there would have been no possible way for
him to undertake a role such as the beggar, where he must be constantly enduring both verbal and
physical attacks. There is also no way that Odysseus could have sacrificed and begged forgiveness
to the sea-god Poseidon if he had not learned his lesson about respect from Polyphemos and Zeus
(eating Helios’s cattle). These factors play an immense role in the outcome of the poem. If it had not
been for these events, the story could never have taken place.
The same circumstances applied for Telemachos as well. His goal was to reach a level of adulthood
and to stand by his father’s side, to mature into a man, and most importantly to gain respect, and to
withhold and protect family kleos. This happened when at first Athene inspired him to go in search of
his father. At that stage he was an inactive, and boyish young prince. When the challenges rose,
however (assisted by Athene), Telemachos rose to meet those challenges. His first items of business
were to set the suitors straight at home. Although he was not completely effective, he surprised them
a great deal with his authority, and even his own mother in later books. That proved that Telemachos
was gaining a new awareness, not only about his father, but about the kingdom, his mother, and the
role he needed to partake. By the end of his long emotional journey, Telemachos realized what it
took to be a man, which could not have been possible without his escapades to Pylos and Sparta.
In The Odyssey, Homer created a parallel for readers, between Odysseus and Telemachos, father
and son. Telemachos was supposedly learning the role of his father, the king of Ithaca, to follow in
the footsteps. The two are compared in the poem from every aspect. However, in analyzing The
Odyssey, one may also presume that Homer had not intended for the Telemachos to be as great a
hero as his father. This may be due to the fact that, for example, he never had a Trojan War to fight,
his setting is in a time of peace unlike his father’s, and more notably- although matured, Telemachus
never really learned true leadership or chivalry as did his father. Homer has presented the world with
poetry so unique and classic, so outstanding and awesome, that generations to come will challenge
themselves interpreting them until the end of time.
Word Count: 2525
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