Telemakos Oddyseus

’s Son, And How He Matures Thro Essay, Research Paper

Telemakos, Oddyseus’s son, and how he matures throughout the story – Oddyseyy HomerThroughout The Odyssey, in books I through IV, Homer,provides many examples of the maturation process that occurred inTel+makhos. Homer illustrates the evolution of Tel+makhos+s character, which leads to his becoming a man. He uses Odysseus+s absence fromhis family and the resulting difficulties that this causes to showhow boys mature into young men and confront life. This is anessential part of the poem because the maturation theme of the storycan be viewed as every man+s life. Homer+s decision to begin theOdyssey with Tel+makhos+s evolution into a man is important becauseit represents the universal process of a child becoming an adult andtaking his place in the world with other adults.The evolution in Tel+makhos+s character is depicted by Homer manytimes, beginning in book I with Homer+s descriptions of the troublingsituation of Odysseus+s wife and son. At this time Tel+makhos is amere boy who is not capable of assisting his mother with the growingproblem of the suitors+ residence, however, Tel+makhos begins to growup as the books progress. The problem of the suitors taking overOdysseus+s house hold persists for a long time, and it gets worse andworse. Tel+makhos while growing older and becoming more mature, isstill unsure how to solve the problem that he begins to realize ashis own responsibility. At this point in the poem, Tel+makhos hasmatured from a boy who observes events that happen to him and aroundhim to a young man beginning to take responsibility for his family. Goddess Athena chooses to help Tel+makhos with his dilemma. Shesteps in and points him in the correct direction, and lights a firein his soul. She empowers him to search for a solution. He startsto mature faster, and he decides to attempt to solve the problem of

the suitors. So he confronts the suitors in an assembly, yet hefails to persuade the group of them to leave because they think he isa just a child incapable of running a household.Tel+makhos decides not to give up, as any maturing young adult mightdo. As a result of his decision not to give up, he chooses toconfront each suitor individually. Tel+makhos, he finds thesituation more complex than he originally assumed, and that solvinghis dilemma will now be more difficult. His mother Pen+lopX had beenleading them on with her weaving, and they thought that eventuallyone of them could marry her. To Tel+makhos, this became a verycomplex situation, nevertheless, he still would not give up trying tosolve the problem. Now, Tel+makhos knows that these matters involvemore people, not just the suitors. Hence, he will need help fromothers continuing his journey in search of a solution. Throughout books I through IV, Tel+makhos+s maturation is proven bythe fact that he recognizes that his mother cannot deal with theproblem of the suitors by herself. Tel+makhos takes responsibilityfor attempting to solve the problems as man of the house in hisfather’s absence. Tel+makhos also shows his development byattempting to confront the suitors as a group, and confronting themindividually, then discovering that his mother has been leading themon.Each time he attempts to confront the suitors he fails, but eachtime he fails, he decides not to give up. Through this series ofattempts and failures, he gains much more knowledge of thecomplexities of the problem his family faces. This understandingleads him by the end of book IV to realize he cannot solve theproblem by himself and he must seek the assistance of others. Inthis way, through the four books, he has gone from a boy to a youngman in the way that every man searches through the difficulties ofchildhood and becomes an adult.