Student Essay on Why Is Telemachus in the Odyssey?

Why Is Telemachus in the Odyssey?

Summary:   Argument that the most important reason for Odysseus returning home is his son Telemachus.

The Odyssey is an epic poem about the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, and the struggles that he endures on his journey home. If this story is supposed to be about Odysseus then why are the first four chapters about his son Telemachus? Why is Odysseus introduced so late in the book that is named after him? I believe that this is because Telemachus is an important character, so important that without him there would be no Odyssey. Odysseus does not return to Ithaca for the glory of being a war-hero, to regain his wealth, power, or to reclaim his wife Penelope and he show us this throughout his journey. The main reason that Odysseus strives so hard to return to his home is because of the son that he left as a baby before the Trojan War. In order to understand why Odysseus underwent such extreme hardships just to see his son, it is important to understand the complex relationship between father and son during the times of Archaic Greece. Once we understand the importance of offspring in Ancient Greece and realize the other ways that the novel hints towards Odysseus' high regard toward his son, we can begin to see that Telemachus was the most important factor contributing to the return of Odysseus.

The importance of the relationship between father and son in Archaic Greece is evident throughout the novel. This is truly unmistakable when a conversation is created between two people. Commonly, the first way a person is identified in The Odyssey is by whose son they are. This happens countless times when Odysseus is identified as "Son of Laertes and seed of Zeus, resourceful Odysseus" (164). This close tie between who someone is and who their father is shows that the bond between a father and son was significant during this time in history. The human love for their sons becomes blatantly obvious during Odysseus' trip to Hades, specifically his conversation with his deceased mother. She reveals that the "longing for you, your cleverness and your gentle ways, took the sweet spirit of life from me" (173). She also in the same passage describes the miserable life that Odysseus' father lives because of the sorrow he feels for the absent Odysseus, "There is no bed there nor is there bed clothing nor blankets nor shining coverlets, but in the winter time he sleeps in the house, where the thralls do, in the dirt next to the fire" (173). Once a great King, Odysseus' father, Laertes, is reduced to an impoverished, dirty, undignified man; this all happens simply because he misses his son. Since a great man can be destroyed by missing his son we can determine that Odysseus is a crucial person in his life. This all leads one to believe that Odysseus would be ravaged by the fact that he left his only son as an infant before the Trojan War.

The ways that humans interact with father and son is important to note, but the ways in which the all-mighty Gods relate with their sons is extremely important to understanding the relationship between father and son as Homer believes it to be. This is because the actions of the Gods are thought of as the ideal ways to act, at least according to Homer. In the Fifth Book when Athena complains to Zeus about the suitors plot to kill Telemachus, and about the fact that Odysseus was still being detained Zeus responds by blaming her, "For was this not your own intention"", and then by sending his "beloved son" Hermes to go free Odysseus from Kalypso's island (89). Zeus in essence tells Athena to do what she can do and to quit whining. The orders that Zeus gives to his son Hermes shows that he has more trust and confidence in Hermes to complete his task than he has in Athena. This is a divine example of the notion that a father is to hold his son in a very high regard. Another ideal that the gods demonstrate in The Odyssey is the principle of protecting your son. The most relevant example of this is the Cyclops. After being trapped in the Cyclops' cave for several days, Odysseus and his men stab a sharpened log into the Cyclops' eye, causing him to be blinded. As Odysseus and his crew escape by water, Odysseus taunts the angered Cyclops'. This taunting results in the Cyclops praying to his father:

Hear me, Poseidon who circle the earth, dark-haired. If truly I am you son and you acknowledge yourself as my father, grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities, son of Laertes, who makes his home in Ithaca, may never reach that home; but if it is decided that he shall see his own people, and come to his strong founded house and to his own country, let him come late, in bad case, with the loss of all his companions, in somebody else's ship, and find troubles in his household. (150-151)

As we know, Odysseus does make it home, and that all of the Cyclops' curses come true.

These curses are carried out by the Cyclops' father as an act of revenge. This goes to show us that fathers are supposed to be vengeful and protective of their sons. What is really amazing about the revenge of Poseidon is that the Cyclops is not the ideal child. The land of the Cyclops' is not depicted kindly nor is their race. They are described by Odysseus as being, "lawless", and "outrageous", along with the facts that they, "put all their trust in the immortal gods, neither plow with their hands nor plant anything" and "care nothing about the others" (140). An unconditional love for his son is shown by Poseidon by the revenge he takes for his son's pain, even though the Cyclops is not a son that many people would be proud to be the father of. The kindness, protection, and favoritism of sons by the gods in the text shows us that the connection between father and son in Ancient Greece was very important. This leads us to believe that Odysseus would have strongly desired to be reunited with his son.

The significance of the relationship between father and son in Greek life does not, by itself, mean that the reason that Odysseus returns home is simply because of Telemachus, but other explanations for his return home do not always add up when you take into account Odysseus' actions both during his journey home and once he returns. For example one argument could be that Odysseus wants to go home because he misses his old life. This theory does not hold when you consider all that he passes on during his return trip home. One instance of this is when he passes on Kalypso's offer of immortality. After eating a spectacular meal and drinking wine, Kalypso proposes that Odysseus could "stay here with me and be the lord of this household and be an immortal" (93). Odysseus shows that his intent to return home is not for power, or a grand lifestyle which he passes up on by refusing Kalypso's offer. This is not the only time that Odysseus declines a fantastic life of riches, and unlimited food and drink. When on the land of the Phaiakians, their King Alkinoos tells Odysseus that, "you could have my daughter and be called my son-in-law, staying here with me. I would dower you with house and properties, if you stayed by your own good will" (119). Odysseus turns down Alkinoos' offer and by doing so he once again shows us that he's not interested in wealth or power. As if passing up on two great offers of power wasn't enough, Odysseus again decides against this righteous lifestyle on the Circe's island. On Circe's island, Odysseus leaves a life of "unlimited meat", "sweet wine", and a beautiful partner in Circe (164). This really drives the point home that Odysseus was not partaking in this journey for a better, more desirable life.

Another possible explanation for Odysseus' enduring of all these troubles is that he is in it for the glory. A war hero who has not returned home to enjoy the benefits of being a celebrity would make sense except that his actions during the story show that he no longer hungers for glory. Odysseus learned his lesson about personal glory when his pride resulted in the death of his entire crew. When fleeing from the Cyclops, Odysseus shouts from the boat, "Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you who it was that inflicted upon your eye this shameful blinding, tell him that you were blinded by Odysseus, sacker of cities!" (150). This in turn angers the Cyclops and results in the curse that ends the lives of all of Odysseus' crew. This was a harsh price that Odysseus paid for his own personal fame, which would indicate that glory was not the motive for his return to Ithaca. We know that he has learned this lesson by his decision to not participate in the sporting events of the Phaiakians. After being egged on by Laodamas to play, Odysseus responds, "Why do you all urge me on in mockery to do these things? Cares are more in my mind than games are" (125). Odysseus eventually participates out of anger and absolutely destroys the Phaiakian athletes. His desire to not take part in the games shows that Odysseus has become humbled which leads us to believe that he is not seeking glory in his journey.

One of the more logical propositions for Odysseus' urge to return home is because of his beautiful wife Penelope. Once again Odysseus' actions negate that this could be the reason for his homecoming. Even when Odysseus knows that he is free to leave Kalypso's island, he admits that Kalypso is better than Penelope when he states, "Penelope can never match the impression you make for beauty and stature" (93). Apparently Kalypso is so good that even though he's no longer her captive they sleep together one last time before he departs. This makes it clear that he's not going home for "sweet" Penelope, when he could have a goddess as a lover without having to go through all of the suffering during his voyage. This illustrates that Odysseus has another reason for returning to Ithaca. On the island of Circe, Odysseus shows once more that his primary objective isn't Penelope. Odysseus enjoys the life and partnership with Circe so much that he stays there an entire year and only leaves at the prompting of his fellow crew-members (164). Once again Odysseus passes up on a goddess-lover, which was apparently great as indicated by his extended stay, showing that Penelope is not his main goal in returning home. We can also tell that the "love of his wife" is not his main objective by his reaction to being reunited with her. When he first speaks to her while disguised as the old man, he lies to her as tells her that he is "Aithon of Crete" (287). Once his true form is restored he still isn't moved by being reunited with Penelope, and doesn't begin weeping until he is "roused from deep within" (341) by Penelope's crying. Odysseus' reaction to Penelope shows us that though she was important to him, she was only a secondary factor in his return to Ithaca. Odysseus' relations with women he meets during his travels and his reactions to being reunited with his wife both show us that she was not the main reason for him enduring the hardships of returning home.

The way that Odysseus passes up on all these opportunities shows that he has another reason for returning to Ithaca. Through Odysseus' actions and reactions during the text we are able to decipher that Telemachus was the most important reason for his return home. During the scene where Odysseus converses with the dead in Hades, one of the first things that he asks his dead mother is for her to, "Tell me of the son and father I left behind" (172). The fact that Odysseus immediately asks about Telemachus proves to us that he is in his thoughts, which lends to the theory that he is the primary reason for Odysseus' homecoming. Another way that we can see the strong feelings that Odysseus has toward his son is in his reaction to seeing Telemachus in Eumaios shelter. His emotion is described by a passage in Book Sixteen, "So he spoke, and kissed his son, and the tears running down his cheeks splashed on the ground. Until now, he was always unyielding" (245). Not only does Odysseus weep, as in the case of reuniting with Penelope, but he erupts into tears at the sight of Telemachus. The distinct difference between Odysseus' reactions to seeing Telemachus and Penelope leads me to believe that seeing Telemachus was much more important to Odysseus. What truly indicates that Odysseus is going home for Telemachus is the way that he avenges the mistreatment of his son by the suitors. Very much like the way that Poseidon avenges his son, Odysseus asserts himself into getting payback on the suitors for their misbehavior. This vengeful side of Odysseus is shown by the change in his attitude toward the suitors during the text. When Odysseus first learns about the "insolent men, who are eating away your livelihood" (171) from the dead prophet Teiresias, he doesn't become enraged. Later on in the novel when Telemachus tells him about the how his, "enemies [the suitors] are in my house" (243), Odysseus' attitude changes into one of avenging his son and they immediately begin to devise plans to destroy the suitors. As was shown before, Odysseus isn't really concerned about wealth, which along with his violent change in attitude towards the suitors after discovering that they have mistreated and disrespected his son, illustrates that his return home is for his son's revenge and protection. The true evidence that the return of Odysseus and the slaughter of the suitors are for Telemachus' sake lies in Telemachus' power to dictate whom is spared from death. The only person spared in the murders was Medon the Herald. The reason is stated by Telemachus, "Do not strike this man with the bronze. He is innocent. Let us spare Medon our herald, a man who has always taken care of me when I was a child in your palace." (330). The power of Telemachus to point his finger and determine the fate of Medon, based solely on the fact that Medon was kind to him, signifies that Odysseus is simply there to punish those who committed misdeeds against his son. This makes it perfectly clear that Odysseus returned to Ithaca for Telemachus' sake.

Throughout the book we are never given a specific reason that Odysseus endures so much in order to return home to Ithaca. I believe that if Telemachus was never born or hadn't been in the book that Odysseus would have never returned. We understand how this statement could be true by understanding the complex relationship between father and son in Ancient Greece, and by examining the actions taken by Odysseus during his return home. Without Odysseus there would be no Telemachus, and without Telemachus there would be no Odyssey.