Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, is becoming a man now. Since Odysseus’ has been missing, he has been trying to get his mother’s suitors away from the palace. Then one day, while sitting with the suitors, he imagines his father still alive and him returning and taking his place in the palace again. While this is happening he sees Athene as an old friend Mentes. Athene tells him that she believes his father is still alive. Telemachus tells the suitors that he there will be orders for all of them to leave his father’s palace. Thelemachus goals are similar to Odysseus’ goal. He wants his father home and once he got notice of a glimpse of home that his father was alive he stepped up as a man. Instead of sitting next to the suitors and daydreaming he does something. Thelemachus is also similar to his father because he acts as the protector of his mother. He cares about his mother and want to make sure that the suitors are not near her when his father returns.
In this book, the situation that Thelemachus is encountering is to grow up a bit. In the poem he seems shy. He has not had a male figure since he was very little and does not know how to handle a situation and I believe finding out his father might be alive has triggered something in him. He hasn’t been only with suitors coming around his mother but when seeing Athene, he changed. He had no problem to kick out men.. Odyssey has to overcome a journey to get back home. Telemachus also has a trip set up to help look for his father. They are both hard working and persistent. They both have a fairly protective personality. I believe that his father would be proud of him for taking institutive with the suitors.
I believe that when comparing Odysseus and Telemachus with Achilles and Agamemnon, you can see the difference and similarities. All four are without a doubt determined men. They are all headstrong and obvious leaders. However there are differences as well. The biggest difference I see his the ideals of how to treat a women. Odysseus and Telemachus both treat women fairly respectfully. They love Penelope and want the best for her. They look out for her. While with Achilles and Agamemnon, they treat women different. Agamemnon especially treats women very poorly and believes that he is superior to them. Another difference that I see is in Odysseus and Achilles. They are both great warriors and they fight well; however, you see that Odysseus values life much more. He is also much more loyal than Achilles and is much more goal oriented. Odysseus would fall under the category of a “true” hero because of all the values that he possesses. Odysseus seems to also have more self-respect as a person. Overall the differences between both set of men are easily to see. Luxury
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