Sunday, December 11, 2016
what is the importance of telemachus' journey in the odyssey?
very early on in the odyssey we are introduced to telemachus, Athena pushes him to go on a journey to find out what happened to his father. but does telemachus' journey really play a role in the return of his father or the downfall of the suitors? well not really, telemachus' journey is really just a path to "manhood". before he went on this journey he was basically a push over, the suitors had no respect towards him. so when Athena arrived she knew that in order for odysseus to return home and slay the suitors telemachus would have to be prepared. with this new experience telemachus had gained by the time his father returned he was well prepared for what was to come.
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Great analysis of Telemachus' journey. I would have to agree with you that Telemachus had no direct impact on the return of his father Odysseus to his home Ithaca.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that Telemachus did not play the biggest role in Odysseus' return, however he did help Odysseus come up with a plan to get rid of the suitors, which I think does play a role in the conclusion of the book. But good job with the analysis!
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Sydney because I believe that Telemachus had a bigger role than just "discovering" himself. I do agree with you about how Telemachus kind of had to stand up for himself.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how Telemachus seemed to have an Odyssey of his own. If Penelope had one, we could have gone full circle.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Telemachus did not play a very direct role in the return of Odysseus but Odysseus was motivated to come home to Ithaca so that he could see his son. Without that motivation maybe Odysseus wouldn't have returned because he might have assumed his wife had gotten married off and there was not somebody else in Ithaca waiting for him.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that Telemachus did not directly play a role in his father's homecoming, I do believe that he was a point of inspiration for Odysseus to return home. As for his role when Odysseus made it back to Ithaca, I believe that without Telemachus, Odysseus would have never been able to defeat the suitors.
ReplyDeleteI would also add that his journey to manhood is overall short and not very punctuated by anything substantial. Instead, he talks to a few people and returns home declaring himself somehow better than he was before.
ReplyDeleteTelemachus' journey was made to prepare himself to be man and fight alongside his dad. His journey is certainly not as eventful as his father's, but he still plays a somewhat important part to the plot.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that it did not play a substantial role in the downfall of the suitors. But it did push Odysseus in some sort of way, because he found out that Telemachus went on a journey to look for him, and he was angry at Athena, he didn't know why she didn't just tell him that he was alive and well. But Athena thought this journey would help Telemachus be more prepared for attacking the suitors. But he did now know his father better, so it was helpful for him.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! Telemachus' journey really helped him stand up to the suitors. Before he left Ithaca he let the suitors get away with a lot, but once he returned he was no longer afraid to stand up to the suitors. The journey definalty helped him to be more prepared to fight the suitors, and I think the journey also gave him hope.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and I think this is a very interesting thing to talk about for this blog post. Even though Telemachus wasn't a huge part of Odysseus' journey home, he did serve asa motivation for Odysseus.
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