Telemachus' Tests and Trials into Maturity

Sydney Krantz and Lily Fitzpatrick

Telemachus' Tests and Trials into Maturity

1. Book 1: Line 238 - 241

But come, please, tell me about yourself now point by point.

You’re truly Odysseus’s son? You’ve sprung up so!

Uncanny resemblance... The head, and the fine eyes-

I see him now.

2. Book 1: Line 409-414

So, mother,

go back to your quarters. Tend to your own tasks,

the distaff and the loom, and keep the women

working hard as well. As for giving orders,

men will see to that, but i most of all:

I hold the reins of power in this house.

3. Book 3: Line 274-276

My fathers return?

Its inconceivable now. Long ago the undying gods

have sealed his death, his black doom.

4. Book 22: Line 162-164

“My fault, father,” the cool clear prince replied,

“the blame’s all mine. The snug door to the vault,

I left it ajar- they’ve kept a better watch than I.

5. Book 22: Line 374- 379

The inspired Prince Telemachus heard his pleas

and quickly said to his father close behind him,

“Stop, don’t cut him down! This one’s innocent.

So is the herald Medon- the one who always

tended me in the house when I was little-

spare him too.

6. Book 23: Line 111-117

“Oh mother,” Telemachus reproached her,

“cruel mother, you with your hard heart!

Why do you spurn my father so - why don’t you

sit beside him, engage him, ask him questions?

What other wife could have a spirit so unbending?

Holding back from her husband home at last for her

after bearing twenty years of brutal struggle -

your heart was always harder than a rock!”

In The Odyssey Telemachus goes through an odyssey of his own as he enters manhood.We can see that by looking at Book 1: Line 238-241 (see quote #1 above) even as a young man, Telemachus resembles his father physically and by looking at Book 1: Line 409-414 (see quote #2 above) it is clear that he feels entitled to Odysseus’s power and plans on ruling Ithaca. However, in the beginning books of the Odyssey, Telemachus isn’t yet emotionally mature enough to take over, and so the suitors still reside comfortably in his palace. By the later books of the Odyssey we can observe Telemachus’s obvious emotional growth. He begins to take charge of his situation and tries to make things better by killing all of the suitors with his father. However, even though Telemachus has grown up throughout the book, it is apparent that he is not yet completely mature, because when Penelope cleverly tries to test Odysseus after the slaughter of all of the suitors, he becomes angry and lashes out (quote #6). This moment demonstrates the fact that Telemachus is not yet mature or clever like his parents.