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Telemachus In Homer's Odyssey

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Telemachus In Homer's Odyssey
In the Odyssey by Homer, Telemachus is the son of Penelope and Odysseus. When Telemakus was a young infant, his father Odysseus went to fight in the battle of Troy. Because of Odysseus’ pride he got stuck at sea for 20 years. During these 20 years that he was away Telemachus grew up day by day. He lived in the palace of Ithaca with his mother and her suitors. As he grew older he started to notice that the suitors were consuming all of his father wine and killing all his cattle. Telemachus was always scared to say anything to the suitors and this is shown when he says the following words to Athena: “Yet, were Odysseus to return, were they to see him here again, they would not only pray for gold or richer clothes-just faster feet. But he has …show more content…
First Telemachus sails to Pylos and meets Nestor. Nestor tells him that he doesn't know much about Odysseus but explains Odysseus’s travels and adventures. Telemachus then goes to Sparta and talks to Helen and Menelaus. They tell him many tales of his father and also that he heard the Odysseus is on Kalypso’s island and that he is alive. This is what happens in the first four books of the odyssey. Telemachus’ character completely changes after his journey. He has developed a new vengeance for the suitors and respect for his father, despite also inwardly grieving that Odysseus left him in the first place. Later in Book 15 Telemachus reaches Ithaca and he meets his father at Eumaeus’ house and they both plot a plan to kill the suitors. A quotes from the book that describes his change is “ah, Father, even when danger comes I think you'll find courage in me. I am not scatterbrained”(Homer XVI.369-372). This shows that he is willing to do anything to help his father get rid of the suitors. By the end of the telemachia, Telemachus has changed from a naive and reckless teenager to an intelligent, brave, man shown as the rightful heir to Odysseus’s

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