When the great hero Odysseus departs for war in Troy, he leaves behind his wife and son, and ten years after the ten-year long war, he still has not returned home yet. Although the central plot of Homer’s Odyssey follows Odysseus and his quest back home, another powerful message reveals itself in the subplot regarding Telemachus, Odysseus’s twenty-year old son. As the man of the house, he has to take on the responsibility of running the household and defending his mother Penelope and himself from the dangerous appetites of the hundreds of suitors who nag Penelope. Even though he still has a long ways to grow, Telemachus, from what we see in Homer’s Odyssey, has potential to become a worthy successor to Odysseus, his father.
I believe that if Telemachus has to prove himself a “worthy successor” to his father, he has to meet the high standards …show more content…
In Book 1, we see a timid young boy with hopes of chasing away the malicious suitors, but with no courage to. But when the goddess Athena visits him, his courage is filled as Athena urges him on, reprimanding him, “. . . You’ve got to stop / Acting like a child. You’ve outgrown that now” (1.313-314). Pointing out the childishness Telemachus has maintained to allow himself to shirk the responsibilities of being the man of the family, Athena helps Telemachus realize his position and the necessity of presiding over the household. With this encouragement, Telemachus steps up to the plate and takes up directing the household by first taking on the responsibility his mother retained: “You should go back upstars and take care of your work, / . . . I am the master of the house” (1.376-379). Later, he also echoes these words when he and his father plan the attack on the suitors (21.373-377). Thus, with these authoritative words, he officially seals his status at the top of the household. By becoming “the man of the house,” Telemachus finally begins to fill in his father’s
I believe that if Telemachus has to prove himself a “worthy successor” to his father, he has to meet the high standards …show more content…
In Book 1, we see a timid young boy with hopes of chasing away the malicious suitors, but with no courage to. But when the goddess Athena visits him, his courage is filled as Athena urges him on, reprimanding him, “. . . You’ve got to stop / Acting like a child. You’ve outgrown that now” (1.313-314). Pointing out the childishness Telemachus has maintained to allow himself to shirk the responsibilities of being the man of the family, Athena helps Telemachus realize his position and the necessity of presiding over the household. With this encouragement, Telemachus steps up to the plate and takes up directing the household by first taking on the responsibility his mother retained: “You should go back upstars and take care of your work, / . . . I am the master of the house” (1.376-379). Later, he also echoes these words when he and his father plan the attack on the suitors (21.373-377). Thus, with these authoritative words, he officially seals his status at the top of the household. By becoming “the man of the house,” Telemachus finally begins to fill in his father’s