Odyssey "The Journey to Find Oneself"

The Journey to Find Oneself “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer- It’s time you were a man.” (I: 341-42). The Odyssey is not only a story of the great Odysseus, but also a story of a young boy who finally gets to take a journey to find his inner self. Everyone goes through a stage in life where they feel lost, however, what differentiates people are the people who make changes verses the people who blame others for there misfortunes. Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, is a young boy going through this problem. Since he never had the father figure in his life, he blames that for his failures of never growing up or taking power. “ He could almost see his magnificent father, here… in the mind’s eye- if only he might drop from the clouds and drive these suitors all in a rout throughout the halls and regain his pride of place and rule his own domains! (I: 133-37). Telemachus has not yet moved onto the role to protect his mother and he, nor became the man of the house while his father is gone. He is waiting for life to happen, rather than going out and living it.
Even though Telemachus may not have that ‘father role’ right in front of him he is lucky to have two characters be there for a mother role. Not only is there Penelople, his birth mother, who is having the suitors take advantage of her. Telemachus has Athena, Zeus’ daughter, there to help him through his journey.
“What’s this banqueting, this crowd carousing here? And what part do you play yourself? Some wedding-feast, some festival? Hardly a potluck supper, I would say. How obscenely they lounge and swagger here, look, gorging in your house. Why, any man of sense who chanced among them would be outraged, seeing such behavior,” (I: 260-66).
Athena may not directly telling Telemachus to grow up, however she is hinting towards him, for him to find in his own means that he should be the one taking control of his household. In regards to all of this, Telemachus doesn’t know this is actually Athena helping