Comparing Odysseus And Telemachus In Homer's The Odyssey

In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus and Telemachus have many similarities not usually seen in a father-son relationship. Odysseus and Telemachus both learn about the ways of humanity in their journeys home, their search of truth, and their triumph back at the palace.

Odysseus and Telemachus both journey to a new stage in life in their respective journeys. Odysseus learns how to discover himself. His returning to Ithaca after many years away signifies a returning to himself after many years of trying to find himself. Athena tells him when he does not recognize his homeland that “You must be a fool, stranger, or come from nowhere, if you really have to ask what this land is.” A few lines later, the narrator says “Ithaca... heart
Odysseus finds truth from the Shades of the Underworld when he and his crewmates are ordered by Circe to journey there. His mother teaches him about the effects of his leaving and the desire for life. “But you must long for the daylight.” Achilles teaches Odysseus to value life more than fame. Achilles says, ¨By god, I rather slave on earth for another man...than rule down here all over the breathless dead.¨ Odysseus gets a dose of reality when Achilles tells him this, because he had just wanted to value his fame more than his life, and he finally has to face the truth about what is more important in life. Odysseus also learns a lesson of truth from Athena when he is finally back home in Ithaca but does not realize it. She tells him to abandon a character than he has spun for himself, and face the truth of himself by saying ¨you terrible man, foxy ingenious, never tired of twists and tricks--so, not even here, on native soil, would you give up those wily tales that warm the cockles of your heart, come enough of this now.”(296). Odysseus learns to finally give up the charade he is putting on when it is safe to do so, and face the truth that is himself. Telemachus, too, learns lessons of truth from Athena. When Telemachus is complaining and wondering what to do about the suitors, Athena gives him advice but also a dose of reality: ¨You must not cling to your boyhood any longer--itś time you were a man.¨ Telemachus realizes that he cannot hide under the disguise of a child any more; he must face his reality and step up as a man. Athena gives Telemachus what he has to hear when he is not willing to to go home back to Ithaca from Lacedaemon. Athena tells him, “It’s wrong, Telemachus, wrong to rove so far, so long from home...then your journey here will come to nothing.¨ (319) Athena reminds Telemachus what he is in Laecademon for, that he cannot just stay there forever.