Telemachus's Transformation

     Telemachus is first depicted in The Odyssey as a boy, naive and timid, but though his years living in Ithaca he begins to mature and develop. In book one, he is first seen as an incompetent boy longing for the guidance of his father and a united family once again. "First by far to see her was Prince Telemachus, sitting among the suitors, heart obsessed with grief. He could almost see his magnificent father, here in the mind's eye- if only he might drop from the clouds and drive these suitors all in rout though out the halls and regain his pride of place and rule his own domains!" (Book 1: 132-137). Telemachus soon realizes he must not wait in his misfortune, and soon the pressure almost forces him to begin development from a boy to a young man. By the time the reader reaches book four, Telemachus is referred to as "clear-sighted," as he beginning to take initiative and recognizes what he must do. And further within the chapter, on line 668, the book acknowledges Telemachus's newfound tact, further showing that he is relinquishing his dependence and summoning the courage to make his own decision and chose his own destiny.
     Fast forwarding to book 20, after Odysseus's great odyssey, we see Telemachus as a nearly different person, full of bravery and determination. In line 285 of book 20, we see Telemachus mock the very suitors he feared in the beginning of the Odyssey. Furthermore, Telemachus begins taking initiative and commanding his home. "'Good Eurycleia- Telemachus commands you now lock the snugly fitted doors to your own rooms. If anyone hears from there the jolting blows and groans of men, caught in our huge net, not one of you show your face- sit tight, keep your weaving, not a sound.'" (Book 21: 426- 431). Telemachus finally is seen as a figure no longer in need of his parents support, and is instead supporting his father by book 4. "Only Telemachus urged him to take it up, and at once he got it in his clutches, long-suffering great Odysseus strung his bow with ease and shot though all the axes, then, vaulting onto the threshold, stood there poised, and pouring his flashing arrows out before him, glaring for the kill , he cut Antinous down, then shot his painful arrows into the rest of us, aiming straight and true, and down we went, corpse on corpse in droves." (Book 4: 192-200). It is seen that Telemachus gave his father the courage his father once and still gives him. Telemachus's true nature developed from being a weak and delicate child, to a powerful and strapping young man.

-Josh Raizner and Culver Stedman