Man versus man, man versus the gods, and man versus nature. Telemachus is a barrier between the suitors and penelope. Essay on homers odyssey comparing odysseus and telemachus. Telemachus cliffsnotes study guides book summaries.
Also, knowing about the suitors at odysseuss home gives suspense to what will happen whenif odysseus gets home. Although athenas hovering, controlling presence might seem oppressive and restrictive, it helps the prince to acquire a great deal. The maturation of telemachus in homers odyssey the odyssey was a great book in which many characters were brought out and developed. Meanwhile, antinous also has a plan and tells the other suitors how they must assassinate the prince. During the odyssey the suitors represent a common enemy between telemachus and odysseus. The basic form of narrative in the odyssey is very strongly oriented towards imagery. To begin with, telemachus was scared to even approach the suitors of his. In the movie and the book odysseus does a lot of the same thing. In suggesting differences between odysseus actions and that of telemachus, we see how quickly violence accelerates, how necessary action gives way to vengeance, and how piety moves toward impiety. First, homer shows the differences in their courage when they discuss how to go about getting revenge on the suitors in book sixteen, father and son.
Describe the reunion between odysseus and telemachus. Penelope and odysseus, a devoted married couple, are alike in their methods of defending themselves against enemies, but odysseus, a male, is more hostile than penelope. But even before his confrontation with the suitors, the confrontation between him and his mother reveals his new, surprisingly commanding outlook. Another way they differ one another is because while odysseu. When athena arouses in penelope the idea of showing herself to the suitors 18. The repeated mention of orestes murder of his fathers usurper is another reminder that telemachus is in a similar situation. For us, the word nemesis means someone or something by which one must inevitably be defeated.
What is the difference between odysseus eloquence and. Antinous is the most disrespectful of the suitors and is the one who devises a plan to murder telemachus upon his return to ithaca. The most significant development that occured in the epic was the development of telemachus. The first four books of the odyssey focus on telemachus s journeys in search of news about his father, who has yet to return home from the trojan war, and. The relationship between telemachus and odysseus writework. Nemesis is the goddess of retributive justice or vengeance. One parallel was the quest of telemachos, in correlation with. This is the lesson odysseus teaches his son when telemachus is about to fight the suitors. The two are compared in the poem from every aspect. This meeting makes reader aware of differences between heroic personality of odysseus and telemachus. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The discrepancy between these several points of view fuels the story and creates tension. Book 16, the contest of the bow, and the final battle with the suitors relatives in which. As the crew climbs ashore, athena urges telemachus to put his shyness aside and question nestor about odysseus.
Free essay character of telemachus in homers odyssey. The book had way more detail than the book in my opinion. Although there are many suitors, three are particularly important to the narrative of the epic. Meanwhile, athena guides telemachus safely past the suitors ambush. Most importantly, wine helps the heroes escape from their captors. Despite differences in aggressiveness, penelope and odysseus of homers the o. The odyssey book 02 telemachus confronts the suitors. The book starts with telemachus searching for clues about the whereabouts of his father. Although the reunion of penelope and odysseus is a recurring motif throughout the odyssey, actual contact between the two first gets underway in book 17, when penelope invites the beggar to speak with her via a message to eumaeus 17.
The odyssey books 14 summary and analysis gradesaver. Indeed, calling the assembly is itself a sign of telemachus s awakening manhood, as aegyptius notes at the beginning of book 2. I think that telemachus is also heroic character, but his heroism is showed in his abilities to develop inner strengths, not heroic deeds. The prince worries about his youth and inexperience, but athena assures him that the right words will come, with the help of the gods. Odysseus is known to be a hero and to either win or lose. Telemachus character analysis in the odyssey litcharts. How have each of these young men sought to honor their respective fathers. Theres nothing better than when deep joy holds sway throughout the realm and banqueters up and down the palace sit in ranks, enthralled to hear the bard, and before them all, the tables heaped with bread and meats, and drawing wine. Odysseus and telemachus comparison essay 977 words. While odysseus does make a few mistakes in judgment over the course of the epic, it is difficult to imagine him making such an absentminded blunder. When writing the aeneid, virgil or vergil drew from his studies on the homeric epics of the iliad and the odyssey to help him create a national epic poem for the roman people.
In the first four books, the socalled education of telemachus, we have a. First, homer shows the differences in their courage when they discuss how to go about getting revenge on. What is the difference between odysseus and penelope from. When penelope becomes upset at the bards song, telemachus chooses. I wish that the movie and book were more alike than they were. The first four books of the epic poem are actually not about odysseus at all, but about telemachus. Okay, so in my english class we read some parts of the odyssey, and now we have to do a project. She tells telemachus he must hurry home to ithaca before the suitors succeed in winning his mothers hand. The sons are pestering my mother to marry them against her will. Telemachus has not yet inherited his fathers brassy pride either. Eurymachus writes off the omen of the fighting eagles, voicing his belief that telemachus whom he refers to as the boy l.
Parallels between virgils aeneid and homers iliad and. In the odyssey, the characters, which compose of telemachus and odysseus, differentiate in so many ways but also have similarities. Telemachus and odysseus have parallel, but different journeys, which. Athena and telemachus michael murrin the argument of this article is that, once one tries to interpret the homeric poems, major deities like athena will invite allegorical readings and that, in fact, athena in the odyssey should be seen as polyvalent. Telemachus mother, penelope, is beset by suitors who are basically camped out in their house eating all their food and drinking all their booze. The bond between odysseus and his swineherd grows as eumaeus insists. The secondary plot featuring prince telemachus, which scholars sometimes call the telemacheia, is an early example of a comingofage story. Story of the development of an adolescent becoming a basileus. In book 22, he accidentally leaves a weapons storeroom unlocked, a careless mistake that allows the suitors to arm themselves. Again, the conversation between telemachus and athenamentes continues, while the suitors are in the background commencing their drunken feast. However once they saw each other after the so many years they where not know to one another, they both embraced and felt this feeling of heartenedness.
A close reading of the initial discussion between athena and telemachus reveals three. Telemachus is a very complex character that homer develops from beginning to end. Meanwhile, they are also planning to kill telemachus, his son. This post continues the previous, as per the title and so deals with this section of the odyssey. Similarities and differences between odysseus movie and. He shows very different levels of faith in his mother and father, which i do not. Telemachus spends his youth helplessly watching the suitors corrupt his household and harass his mother penelope, but athena s forceful guidance helps him mature from a nervous youth to a confident, eloquent man much like his father. In the sentence beginning in line 263, athenamentes is speaking purely as. Virgil used several characteristics associated with epic poetry, more specifically homers epics, including the use of hexameter verse, book division, lists of genealogies and underlying themes to draw parallels.
In book one, telemachus wonders poignantly how he can know that he is his fathers child and prays to the gods for guidance once and again. In book 2, the suitors mock telemachus for his weakness and indecisiveness. However, amphinomus, the most decent of the suitors, calls for patience in order to learn the will of the gods before striking. This change is exhibited by his confrontation with the suitors who are attempting to usurp his fathers kingdom by wooing penelope. Odysseus boasts after blinding polyphemus poseidons son is pelted and his ships are frequently destroyed by waves and boulders thank you. Homer uses the differences in the strength, courage, and mercy of odysseus and telemachus in order to show that odysseus is more of an epic hero than telemachus. Telemakhos, literally farfighter is a figure in greek mythology, the son of odysseus and penelope, and a central character in homers odyssey. Wine might not seem to belong in an essay comparing two journeys, however, wine plays an integral part in the journeys of the two books. When telemachuss ship arrives at pylos the next morning, the crew finds 4500 of nestors people sacrificing bulls in honor of the god poseidon. Telemachus insults the suitors in the first two books of the odyssey, and threatens to eventually kill them. This essay is concerning the idea of revenge and how it pertains to the first four books in the odyssey.
In book eight, on odysseus second day at the phaeacian. Get an answer for compare the lives of telemachus, son of odysseus, and orestes, son of agamemnon. There were many differences between this version in movie of the odyssey. They differ because telemachus is so inexperienced in life while his father, odysseus, has plenty. Comparing odysseus and telemachus in homers odyssey. His journey, and after that the killing of the suitors who took advantage of him really. We dont see him joining in the parties and outrageous behavior of the suitors. Because the book is not written chronologically the reader does not know what has happened to telemachuss father. The household in this epic seems to be an important structure in the relationship between odysseus, penelope, and their son telemachus. Meeting athena in the first book of odyssey, telemachus learns his responsibilities as a prince and the son of odysseus and quickly adapts to the role. Some important differences, however, emerge between joyces ulysses and the odyssey. Odyssey differences between telemachus and odysseus journey. One of the most intriguing aspects of the odyssey by homer is the relationship between odysseus and telemachus, his son.
Im having a hard time with this because we didnt read about telemachuss journey, so we cant use that part. In telemachus, stephen dedalus feels that he is being forced out of the tower by haines and mulligan. Comparing and contrasting the journeys of odysseus and. The parallel between odysseus and telemachos in odyssey in odyssey, homer creates a parallel between odysseus and telemachos, father and son. Both odysseus and his son, telemachus, must overcome very similar hardships. Books 1516 cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. The relationship between telemachus and odysseus free. The goddess athena could tell the difference between odysseus and a beggar. The first four books of the odyssey focus on telemachuss journeys in search of news about his father, who has yet to return home from the trojan war, and.
Telemachus, odysseuss son, was the man of the house after his father left for the trojan war. I have no idea what telemachus is like, but hes my best shot at this. In what ways are penelope and odysseus similar and different. For example, in the fourth book telemachus gets acquainted with menelaos and his wife. The trials of telemachus scholarlycommons university of. Tolkiens the hobbit compared to homers the odyssey. Telemachus is the son of odysseus, the king of ithaca, who disappeared after the trojan war. His argument wins the day as the suitors agree to postpone the murder of telemachus. Pen is loving and faithful rebels against suitors, aga is dead cly. What are some similarities and differences between. The odyssey string the bow and shoot it through a dozen axe heads cut duration. Once again, we are meant to focus on the differences of hospitality between telemachus and the suitors. Homers telemachy takes on a different, potentially troubling valence through.
Story of the development of an adolescent becoming. After all it is their household that is threatened by the suitors and leads telemachus to search for the truth about the whereabouts of his father. How will odysseus repay the hospitality shown by alcinous. While telemachus strictly observes every divine law, the suitors carouse with wanton abandon, uninvited, in his home. While telemachus impresses his hosts, the suitors plot to murder theirs.
Im gonna list some of the similarities and differences i noticed watching and reading this story. As the epic opens, telemachus, about 21 years old, is on the brink of manhood, uncertain and insecure in his potential power, and in grave danger from the suitors who would prefer to see him dead. Indeed, calling the assembly is itself a sign of telemachuss awakening manhood, as aegyptius notes at the beginning of book 2. They talk among themselves to plot telemachus murder. Telemachus starts as a younger, less mature boy, and without the presence of his father during his childhood, he becomes a timid, shy and spineless boy who is greatly pampered by his mother. Well telemachus was a tiny bit worried about the reunion because of all the happened while odysseus was away on his adventure, so to speak. When his father did not return to ithaca, suitors flooded into his palace, ravaging his food, and. Consider a representative example, from when odysseus praises alcinous bard. Telemachus is often overshadowed by odysseus many heroic deeds and conquests.
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