In The Odyssey written by Homer and translated by Richard Lattimore, several
themes are made evident, conceived by the nature of the time period, and customs
of the Greek people. These molded and shaped the actual flow of events and
outcomes of the poem. Beliefs of this characteristic were represented by the
sheer reverence towards the gods and the humanities the Greek society exhibited,
and are both deeply rooted within the story. In the intricate and well-developed
plot of The Odyssey, Homer harmonized several subjects. One of these, was the
quest of Telemachos, (titled "Telemachy") in correlation with the
journey of his father. In this, he is developed from a childish, passive, and
untested boy, to a young man preparing to stand by his fathers side. This is
directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that they both lead to the same
finale, and are both stepping stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship.
Through these voyages certain parallels are drawn concerning Odysseus and
Telemachos: the physical journeys, the mental preparations they have produced,
and what their emotional status has resulted in. These all partake a immense
role in the way the story is set up, stemming from the purpose of each
character’s journey, their personal challenges, and the difficulties that
surround them. The story commences when Odysseus, a valiant hero of the Trojan
war, journeys back home. Together with his courageous comrades, and a several
vessels, he set sail for his homeland Ithaca. Fated to wander for a full ten
years, Odysseus’s ships were immediately blown to Thrace by a powerful storm.
The expedition had begun. Upon this misfortune, he and his men started a raid on
the land of the Cicones. However, this only provided them with temporary
success. The Cicones had struck back and defeated a vast majority of
Odysseus’s crew. This was their first of many disastrous experiences to come.
Storms then blew his ships to Libya and the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the
crew was given Lotus fruit from which most lost their entire memories from home.
Odysseus, and the others who had not tasted it, recovered the sailors by force,
and set sail again, westward, this time to the island of the Cyclops, a wild
race of one-eyed giants. Leaving most of his men in a sheltered cove, Odysseus
then entered the island with one crew only. They wandered around, encountering,
and foolishly entering an immense cave, awaiting the owner. Moments later, a
Cyclops named Polyphemos, son of Poseidon, entered and pushed a huge bolder
covering the entrance to the cave. Upon this, he immediately ate two sailors,
and promised to eat the others in due time. The morning came, and Polyphemos had
promptly eaten two more seamen, against the will of Zeus. Odysseus, soon
realized that killing him asleep would do no good since the mouth of the cave
was still inescapable. The captain had then devised a new plan. When Polyphemos
returned that evening, Odysseus showered the monster with wine until he had
fallen under a drunken spell. Then, with the help of his companions took a sharp
pole and rammed it into his large eye, blinding him instantaneously. As the crew
sailed away into the vast dimensions of the sea, Odysseus had unwisely revealed
his name in taunting the poor beast, boasting his excessive pride. Polyphemos
then made a prayer to his father, asking to punish the man who had caused him
this harm. Several days later Odysseus and his men arrived at the island of
Aeolus, keeper of the winds. There, they stayed for about one month, and
departed, in sight of the long-awaited Ithaca. However, before they left,
Odysseus was presented with a container of winds, carrying each but the needed
West wind. As Ithaca approached, the crew not knowing the contents of the
"skin", opened it up and released all of the winds, depositing the
ships back at the island of Aeolus, who refused to help them any further.
Setting sail once again, the group headed back west, where they had come across
the Island of the Laesrtygonians, a savage race of cannibals. Everyone, but
Odysseus, lined their ships at the harbor, covered with rocks. The entire party
was attacked and eaten by the Laestrygonians, who had bombarded them with giant
boulders. Having but one vessel left, Odysseus sailed his ship to the Island of
Dawn, inhabited by the sorceress Circe. A group of men were sent to explore the
island, who were then lured, feasted, and the turned to swine by Circe. Knowing
this Odysseus went after her, and on his way encountered Hermes who gave him a
potion to withstand the spell. Circe tried, and then she failed. Odysseus had
then requested for his crew to be turned back to normal. She complied, and
eventually housed Odysseus and his shipmates long enough for him to father three
children. Homesick and distraught, Odysseus was then advised by Circe to search
the underworld for Teiresias, to tell him his fortune, and how to appease
Poseidon. Odysseus agreed and made a trip to the underworld, where he discovered
many of his dead companions from Troy, and most importantly, Teiresias. With his
new knowledge, he returned to Circe, which had provided him with just the
information he needed to pass the Sirens. They then departed from the island and
continued on there journey, ears filled with wax. What Odysseus was about to
encounter next would be a very difficult task. He needed to direct his ship
through a straight, between two cliffs, on one side the whirlpool Charybdis, on
the other, a monster Scylla. Trying hard to avoid Charybdis Odysseus came too
close to Scylla, and six members of his ship suffered the consequences. As the
journey continued the Island of Helios stood in path. Helios was the sun-god,
and nurturer of the cattle of the gods. Knowing this, but at the same time
extraordinarily hungry, Odysseus waited for his sea-mates to fall asleep and
slaughtered several of the cattle. This was much considered a lack of respect
not only to Helios, but to the rest of the gods as well. Zeus, angered by his
gesture, struck his ship with thunder, destroying the entire thing and killing
the rest of the crew except for Odysseus, which floated off to the Island of
Ogygia, where he would there spend the next seven years, made a lover, by the
sea nymph Calypso. Upon Poseidon’s departure to Ethiopia, Zeus had then
ordered that Calypso release Odysseus, who gave him an ax. With this, he
constructed a float, and continued his expedition. Back from his trip, Poseidon,
saw Odysseus floating in the ocean and felt compelled to drown him, which he
almost did, if it was not for the goddess Ino, who had spared him a magic veil.
He tied this to his waist, and swam to a beach where he immediately fell asleep.
The next morning he was awoken by maidens playing ball after doing the wash.
There he saw Nausikaa, daughter of king Alkinoos. Odysseus gently supplicated to
the princess. She first took him to the inhabitants of the island, the
Phaiakians, and then Alkinoos, the king. There he listened to Odysseus’s
stories, and presented him with lavish gifts and a furnished ship back to
Ithaca. Resenting this fact, Poseidon turned the new crew into stone for their
generosity. This is the time, nearly twenty years after his fathers departure,
Athene wisely advises the worried, and still immature Telemachos to go in search
of his father. Telemachos agrees with her orders, and before his departure he
makes it clear to the suitors (robbing his home and proposing marriage to his
mother Penelope) that he wants them all out of his house. He then requested a
ship and twenty men, and sailed off to the Island of Pylos. There he was
immediately greeted by Nestor, in the middle of offering 81 bulls to Poseidon.
Peisistratos, son of Nestor, then offered some intestines to Telemachos and
Athene as far as sacrificing it in hopes of a safe journey. This was ironic
since in reality, Athene was controlling his journey, and on the other hand,
moments ago, Poseidon, was in fact destroying the journey of his father. Nestor,
once seeing that his guests were finished feasting, asked of their identities.
Once he was recognized, Telemachos asked Nestor about his father. Nestor rambled
on and said nothing of real importance to Telemachos. At this point Telemachos
became pessimistic, and Athene reassured him with an analogy of Agamemnon’s
short journey, and it’s consequences. Still emotionally unstable, Telemachos
used this opportunity to speak of Menaleus, Agamemnon’s brother. Nestor agreed
that Menaleus may be more knowledgeable that he, and kindly provided him with a
chariot, so that he could travel to Sparta to speak with him, accompanied by
Peisistratos. He arrived at Sparta two days later, sleeping in the house of
Diocles the first night, and arriving by nightfall the second day. He reached
the island just in the middle of a double marriage ceremony of Menaleus’s
daughter and son. At this point, Homer cleverly compared Menaleus to Odysseus in
the reader’s mind by suggesting the similarities between the both in
background, and "undoubtedly" survival. He also used this scene to
emphasize Telemachos’s emotional instability as he burst out crying at the
mention of his father’s name. The night ended and Telemachos was finally
noticed to be Odysseus’s son by Helen, Menaleus’s wife. Once this took
place, he conclusively mentioned his purpose in visiting: To find information
about his father. Menaleus answered Telemachos by speaking of his journey from
Troy, and reassuring Telemachos of his father’s wit and cleverness, and almost
certain survival. After the men finished talking, Menaleus showered him with
complements and gifts (one refused, one accepted), and then Telemachos left,
feeling good about himself once again. After this event, the scene changes back
to Ithaca where the suitors were planning their ambush on the young prince.
Telemachos went back home, only to find out that his father had already arrived
before him. This sets Odysseus (disguised as a beggar) and Telemachos up for the
big scene against the suitors, where father and son, side by side, rid Ithaca of
its cancerous cells, and reunite the "royal" family. Odysseus then
appeased and sacrificed to the god Poseidon in the name of his misbehavior. As
Homer makes it apparent, there are other underlying themes embedded in the story
that would just confuse the reader if they were not there. An example of this is
the emotional aspects of both characters. If one does not understand this key
element, their is no way that the sequence of events would cohere. "Why
didn’t Telemachos look for his father earlier? Why did Penelope wait twenty
years to consider remarrying? How did this affect Odysseus in his
journey?". These are questions that would go unanswered unless the reader
reaches within the emotions of the character. In the case of Telemachos, his
emotions shaped his well being. For example, had it not been for Athene giving
him confidence, by no means would he ever have thought of taking such a voyage,
hence, Telemachos would have never participated in his "final test"
against the suitors either. His sorrow and anger from the loss of his father and
his mother constantly being attacked and proposed to by piranha-like suitors
were also driving forces towards his journey. Some of these are brought out in
different situations, both positive and negative, such as Menaleus’s mention
of his father, which caused a sudden out-burst of tears, and the proud and
accomplished feeling he received from leaving Sparta.. Odysseus’s situation
was only slightly different. He, like Telemachos had his worries about
family-life, and his kingdom at stake, but also had concerns about his wife,
possibly triggered by the mention of Agamemnon’s by Proteus, who was killed by
the hands of his own wife. These factors probably had taken their toll on
Odysseus. At the same time he had the wrath of Poseidon to contend with. Another
factor which could have also lead to this distress could have been his visit to
the underworld, and in his entire journey, losing friends and comrades
regularly. The last object of these journeys and possibly the most important to
the reader, is comprehending how these travels actually led to the final test:
The battle against the suitors. This is considered the poem’s mental
perspective. Odysseus had many things to overcome before he would be ready to
take on this responsibility. His journey prepared him for that. For one, if he
had not have perfected his tolerance abroad and finely tuned his hubris problems
there would have been no possible way for him to undertake a role such as the
beggar, where he must be constantly enduring both verbal and physical attacks.
There is also no way that Odysseus could have sacrificed and begged forgiveness
to the sea-god Poseidon if he had not learned his lesson about respect from
Polyphemos and Zeus (eating Helios’s cattle). These factors play an immense
role in the outcome of the poem. If it had not been for these events, the story
could never have taken place. The same circumstances applied for Telemachos as
well. His goal was to reach a level of adulthood and to stand by his father’s
side, to mature into a man, and most importantly to gain respect, and to
withhold and protect family kleos. This happened when at first Athene inspired
him to go in search of his father. At that stage he was an inactive, and boyish
young prince. When the challenges rose, however (assisted by Athene), Telemachos
rose to meet those challenges. His first items of business were to set the
suitors straight at home. Although he was not completely effective, he surprised
them a great deal with his authority, and even his own mother in later books.
That proved that Telemachos was gaining a new awareness, not only about his
father, but about the kingdom, his mother, and the role he needed to partake. By
the end of his long emotional journey, Telemachos realized what it took to be a
man, which could not have been possible without his escapades to Pylos and
Sparta. In The Odyssey, Homer created a parallel for readers, between Odysseus
and Telemachos, father and son. Telemachos was supposedly learning the role of
his father, the king of Ithaca, to follow in the footsteps. The two are compared
in the poem from every aspect. However, in analyzing The Odyssey, one may also
presume that Homer had not intended for the Telemachos to be as great a hero as
his father. This may be due to the fact that, for example, he never had a Trojan
War to fight, his setting is in a time of peace unlike his father’s, and more
notably- although matured, Telemachus never really learned true leadership or
chivalry as did his father. Homer has presented the world with poetry so unique
and classic, so outstanding and awesome, that generations to come will challenge
themselves interpreting them until the end of time.