Who He Is
Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, a young man who barely knew his father and lives in Ithaca in a house taken over by suitors. The Odyssey begins with him and not with the hero: the first book shows him sitting among the men who eat the family's goods, imagining his father arriving to drive them out. Athena calls him to act, and the poem follows him from a young man who complains to a man who speaks for the household, on the journey in search of his father and on the return, when he comes to play a part in the revenge.
Trajectory
In Book I, Telemachus is the first to see the stranger at the door, who is Athena disguised as Mentes, and he is indignant that a guest has waited so long. To the guest, he explains in a low voice what is happening in the hall, so the others will not hear: they eat without paying for another's sustenance. About his origin, he answers that his mother says he is Odysseus's son, but that no one knows his own origin for himself, and he laments that his father vanished without glory, carried off by the harpies. Athena tells him he is no longer of an age for childishness, and sends him to call the assembly, go to Pylos and Sparta, and think about how to kill the suitors.
νεμεσσήθη δʼ ἐνὶ θυμῷ / ξεῖνον δηθὰ θύρῃσιν ἐφεστάμεν·(1.119-120), he was indignant in his heart that a guest had stood so long at the door.
ῥεῖʼ, ἐπεὶ ἀλλότριον βίοτον νήποινον ἔδουσιν,(1.160), easily, because they eat another's livelihood without paying for it.
μήτηρ μέν τέ μέ φησι τοῦ ἔμμεναι, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε / οὐκ οἶδʼ· οὐ γάρ πώ τις ἑὸν γόνον αὐτὸς ἀνέγνω.(1.215-216), my mother says I am his son; I do not know, for no one has ever recognized his own begetting for himself.
νῦν δέ μιν ἀκλειῶς ἅρπυιαι ἀνηρείψαντο· / οἴχετʼ ἄιστος ἄπυστος,(1.241-242), but now the harpies have snatched him away without glory; he is gone, unseen and unheard of,
When Penelope asks Phemius for another song, Telemachus contradicts her before everyone and sends her back to the loom, because speech is the concern of men, and above all of him. The book ends with him awake all night, thinking about the journey.
μῦθος δʼ ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει / πᾶσι, μάλιστα δʼ ἐμοί· τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἔστʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ.(1.358-359), speech will be the concern of men, of all of them, and above all of me, for the power in this house is mine.
ἔνθʼ ὅ γε παννύχιος, κεκαλυμμένος οἰὸς ἀώτῳ, / βούλευε φρεσὶν ᾗσιν ὁδὸν τὴν πέφραδʼ Ἀθήνη.(1.443-444), there, all night long, covered with sheep's wool, he pondered in his mind the journey that Athena had pointed out.
In Book II, he calls the assembly and sits in his father's seat, and the elders give him their place. He says the matter is his own, two evils in the house, the loss of his father and the ruin of the goods, and confesses he lacks the strength to defend himself. He ends by throwing the scepter to the ground, in tears, and the people take pity, but only Antinous answers. Telemachus refuses to drive out his mother and asks for a ship and twenty companions to go to Sparta and Pylos. Mentor, Odysseus's friend, accuses the people of keeping silent, and the assembly breaks up without a decision. Later, he tells Antinous that he is grown now and that his spirit grows within him, and he slips away from his mother, after making Eurycleia swear silence for twelve days.
θεσπεσίην δʼ ἄρα τῷ γε χάριν κατέχευεν Ἀθήνη. / τὸν δʼ ἄρα πάντες λαοὶ ἐπερχόμενον θηεῦντο· / ἕζετο δʼ ἐν πατρὸς θώκῳ, εἶξαν δὲ γέροντες.(2.12-14), Athena poured divine grace upon him. All the people gazed at him as he came; he sat in his father's seat, and the elders gave way.
ἀλλʼ ἐμὸν αὐτοῦ χρεῖος, ὅ μοι κακὰ ἔμπεσεν οἴκῳ / δοιά· τὸ μὲν πατέρʼ ἐσθλὸν ἀπώλεσα, ὅς ποτʼ ἐν ὑμῖν / τοίσδεσσιν βασίλευε, πατὴρ δʼ ὣς ἤπιος ἦεν· / νῦν δʼ αὖ καὶ πολὺ μεῖζον, ὃ δὴ τάχα οἶκον ἅπαντα / πάγχυ διαρραίσει, βίοτον δʼ ἀπὸ πάμπαν ὀλέσσει.(2.45-49), but the need is my own, for two evils have fallen upon my house: one, I have lost my noble father, who once was king among you here, and was gentle as a father; the other, now, is far greater, and will soon utterly shatter the whole house and destroy its livelihood altogether.
ὣς φάτο χωόμενος, ποτὶ δὲ σκῆπτρον βάλε γαίῃ / δάκρυʼ ἀναπρήσας· οἶκτος δʼ ἕλε λαὸν ἅπαντα.(2.80-81), so he spoke in anger, and threw the scepter to the ground, shedding tears; and pity seized all the people.
Ἀντίνοʼ, οὔ πως ἔστι δόμων ἀέκουσαν ἀπῶσαι / ἥ μʼ ἔτεχʼ, ἥ μʼ ἔθρεψε·(2.130-131), Antinous, it is by no means possible to drive out of the house, against her will, she who bore me and raised me;
ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι δότε νῆα θοὴν καὶ εἴκοσʼ ἑταίρους, / οἵ κέ μοι ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα διαπρήσσωσι κέλευθον. / εἶμι γὰρ ἐς Σπάρτην τε καὶ ἐς Πύλον ἠμαθόεντα / νόστον πευσόμενος πατρὸς δὴν οἰχομένοιο,(2.212-215), but come, give me a swift ship and twenty companions, who will see the way through for me, here and there. For I will go to Sparta and to sandy Pylos, to learn of my father's return, long gone,
ἐγὼ δʼ ἔτι νήπιος ἦα; / νῦν δʼ ὅτε δὴ μέγας εἰμὶ καὶ ἄλλων μῦθον ἀκούων / πυνθάνομαι, καὶ δή μοι ἀέξεται ἔνδοθι θυμός, / πειρήσω, ὥς κʼ ὔμμι κακὰς ἐπὶ κῆρας ἰήλω,(2.313-316), was I still a child? But now that I am grown, and hearing the words of others I learn, and my spirit grows within me, I will try to send evil fates upon you,
θάρσει, μαῖʼ, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι ἄνευ θεοῦ ἥδε γε βουλή. / ἀλλʼ ὄμοσον μὴ μητρὶ φίλῃ τάδε μυθήσασθαι, / πρίν γʼ ὅτʼ ἂν ἑνδεκάτη τε δυωδεκάτη τε γένηται, / ἢ αὐτὴν ποθέσαι καὶ ἀφορμηθέντος ἀκοῦσαι, / ὡς ἂν μὴ κλαίουσα κατὰ χρόα καλὸν ἰάπτῃ.(2.372-376), take heart, mother, for this plan is not without a god. But swear not to tell this to my dear mother until the eleventh or twelfth day comes, or until she herself misses me and hears that I have gone, so that she will not weep and mar her beautiful skin.
In Book III, he arrives at Pylos ashamed to question an old man. Athena, disguised as Mentor, tells him he should not be ashamed to learn where the earth covered his father, and that the courage for his speech will come partly from him and partly from a god. He asks Nestor not to sweeten anything for him. Nestor knows nothing of Odysseus and tells the story of another father, that of Agamemnon, and of another son, Orestes, who avenged his father. Telemachus says he wished for equal strength to punish the suitors, but the gods had not spun such strength either for his father or for him. When Athena reproaches him for doubting, he closes the subject: for his father there is no true return anymore. He leaves Pylos in a chariot with Peisistratus, son of Nestor, bound for Sparta.
Τηλέμαχʼ, οὐ μέν σε χρὴ ἔτʼ αἰδοῦς, οὐδʼ ἠβαιόν· / τοὔνεκα γὰρ καὶ πόντον ἐπέπλως, ὄφρα πύθηαι / πατρός, ὅπου κύθε γαῖα καὶ ὅν τινα πότμον ἐπέσπεν.(3.14-16), Telemachus, you no longer need shame, not even a little; for this is why you sailed the sea, to learn of your father, where the earth covered him and what fate it brought him.
μηδέ τί μʼ αἰδόμενος μειλίσσεο μηδʼ ἐλεαίρων, / ἀλλʼ εὖ μοι κατάλεξον ὅπως ἤντησας ὀπωπῆς.(3.96-97), do not soothe me with anything out of respect or pity, but tell me truly how you saw him with your own eyes.
αἲ γὰρ ἐμοὶ τοσσήνδε θεοὶ δύναμιν περιθεῖεν, / τίσασθαι μνηστῆρας ὑπερβασίης ἀλεγεινῆς, / οἵ τέ μοι ὑβρίζοντες ἀτάσθαλα μηχανόωνται. / ἀλλʼ οὔ μοι τοιοῦτον ἐπέκλωσαν θεοὶ ὄλβον, / πατρί τʼ ἐμῷ καὶ ἐμοί· νῦν δὲ χρὴ τετλάμεν ἔμπης.(3.205-209), if only the gods would give me such strength, to punish the suitors for their painful outrage, who insolently plot reckless deeds against me. But the gods did not spin such fortune for my father or for me; now we must endure, all the same.
Μέντορ, μηκέτι ταῦτα λεγώμεθα κηδόμενοί περ· / κείνῳ δʼ οὐκέτι νόστος ἐτήτυμος, ἀλλά οἱ ἤδη / φράσσαντʼ ἀθάνατοι θάνατον καὶ κῆρα μέλαιναν.(3.240-242), Mentor, let us no longer speak of this, though we care about it; for him there is no true return, since the immortals have already determined death and black doom for him.
In Book IV, at the house of Menelaus, he weeps with his cloak over his face when he hears his father's name, and Peisistratus speaks for him. Helen recognizes him by his resemblance. The next morning, he asks Menelaus for the truth, without softening, and hears Proteus's account: Odysseus is held on the island of Calypso. He refuses the horses Menelaus offers, because Ithaca has no racetracks or meadows. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, Antinous sets an ambush for his return.
ἀλλὰ σαόφρων ἐστί, νεμεσσᾶται δʼ ἐνὶ θυμῷ / ὧδʼ ἐλθὼν τὸ πρῶτον ἐπεσβολίας ἀναφαίνειν / ἄντα σέθεν, τοῦ νῶι θεοῦ ὣς τερπόμεθʼ αὐδῇ(4.158-160), but he is prudent, and he is ashamed in his heart to come here for the first time and let loose reckless words before you, whose voice delights us as a god's does.
μηδέ τί μʼ αἰδόμενος μειλίσσεο μηδʼ ἐλεαίρων, / ἀλλʼ εὖ μοι κατάλεξον ὅπως ἤντησας ὀπωπῆς(4.326-327), do not soothe me with anything out of respect or pity; tell me truly how you saw him with your eyes.
ἐν δʼ Ἰθάκῃ οὔτʼ ἂρ δρόμοι εὐρέες οὔτε τι λειμών· / αἰγίβοτος, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπήρατος ἱπποβότοιο(4.605-606), in Ithaca there are no wide racecourses nor any meadow; it is a land for goats, and more lovely than a land for horses.
In Book V, Telemachus is not on stage, but the danger he faces enters Athena's complaint to Zeus in the council, when the goddess recalls that the suitors plan to kill him on his return. In Book XI, Anticleia tells Odysseus in Hades that Telemachus tends the fields and joins equal feasts, as befits a man of judgment. In Book XIII, Athena answers her father's question, saying that the journey was meant to win the son good fame.
μὴ δή τοι κεῖνός γε λίην ἐνθύμιος ἔστω. / αὐτή μιν πόμπευον, ἵνα κλέος ἐσθλὸν ἄροιτο / κεῖσʼ ἐλθών· ἀτὰρ οὔ τινʼ ἔχει πόνον, ἀλλὰ ἕκηλος / ἧσται ἐν Ἀτρεΐδαο δόμοις, παρὰ δʼ ἄσπετα κεῖται.(13.421-424), let him not weigh too heavily on your mind. I myself escorted him, so that he might win good fame by going there; he suffers no hardship, but sits at ease in the house of the Atreid, and countless riches lie beside him.
In Book XIV, Eumaeus, unaware that he is speaking to the father, says that Telemachus was raised by the gods like a sapling, and that now the nobles lie in wait for him on his return from Pylos, so that the line may vanish from Ithaca without a name.
τὸν δέ τις ἀθανάτων βλάψε φρένας ἔνδον ἐΐσας / ἠέ τις ἀνθρώπων· ὁ δʼ ἔβη μετὰ πατρὸς ἀκουὴν / ἐς Πύλον ἠγαθέην· τὸν δὲ μνηστῆρες ἀγαυοὶ / οἴκαδʼ ἰόντα λοχῶσιν, ὅπως ἀπὸ φῦλον ὄληται / νώνυμον ἐξ Ἰθάκης Ἀρκεισίου ἀντιθέοιο.(14.178-182), but one of the immortals harmed his balanced mind within him, or one of men: he went to sacred Pylos in search of news of his father; and the proud suitors lie in wait for him as he returns home, so that the line of godlike Arcesius may perish from Ithaca, nameless.
In Book XV, Athena finds him awake in Sparta, troubled about his father, and tells him to return, avoid the ambush, and first pass by the swineherd. Menelaus sends him off with a mixing bowl, and Helen gives him a robe for his future bride. In Pylos, he avoids Nestor's palace so as not to be detained. On board, he introduces himself to a stranger as the son of Odysseus, "if he ever existed," and takes in the seer Theoclymenus as a suppliant. In Ithaca, he hands Theoclymenus over to Peiraeus and goes on foot to the swineherd's yard.
Τηλέμαχον δʼ οὐχ ὕπνος ἔχε γλυκύς, ἀλλʼ ἐνὶ θυμῷ / νύκτα διʼ ἀμβροσίην μελεδήματα πατρὸς ἔγειρεν.(15.7-8), but sweet sleep did not hold Telemachus; through the immortal night, cares for his father kept him awake in his heart.
μή με παρὲξ ἄγε νῆα, διοτρεφές, ἀλλὰ λίπʼ αὐτοῦ, / μή μʼ ὁ γέρων ἀέκοντα κατάσχῃ ᾧ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ / ἱέμενος φιλέειν· ἐμὲ δὲ χρεὼ θᾶσσον ἱκέσθαι.(15.199-201), do not lead me past the ship, Zeus-nurtured one, but leave me here, lest the old man detain me against my will in his house, eager to host me; for I must reach home quickly.
ἐξ Ἰθάκης γένος εἰμί, πατὴρ δέ μοί ἐστιν Ὀδυσσεύς, / εἴ ποτʼ ἔην· νῦν δʼ ἤδη ἀπέφθιτο λυγρῷ ὀλέθρῳ.(15.267-268), I am from Ithaca, and my father is Odysseus, if he ever existed; now he has perished in a sorrowful death.
οὐ μὲν δή σʼ ἐθέλοντά γʼ ἀπώσω νηὸς ἐΐσης, / ἀλλʼ ἕπευ· αὐτὰρ κεῖθι φιλήσεαι, οἷά κʼ ἔχωμεν.(15.280-281), I would not push you away from the good ship if you wish to come; but follow me, and there you will be welcomed with whatever we have.
τὸν δʼ ὦκα προβιβάντα πόδες φέρον, ὄφρʼ ἵκετʼ αὐλήν, / ἔνθα οἱ ἦσαν ὕες μάλα μυρίαι, ᾗσι συβώτης / ἐσθλὸς ἐὼν ἐνίαυεν, ἀνάκτεσιν ἤπια εἰδώς.(15.555-557), and his feet carried him quickly forward until he reached the yard, where the very many swine were, among which the good swineherd slept, kind to his masters.
In Book XVI, he reaches the hut, and the dogs fawn on him. He wants to know about his mother and imagines his father's bed covered in cobwebs. Speaking to the guest, he confesses that he is young and does not trust his arms to defend a guest, and that his mother is torn between keeping her husband's house and following the best suitor. He explains that he is the only son in each generation of the family, and so the enemies are many. When the guest says he is the father, he does not believe it, and accepts only after the explanation of the disguise, the only recognition in the poem that comes through words. Father and son weep together. He counts more than a hundred suitors, fears his father will pay dearly for facing them, and objects that testing the servants would take time.
ἤ μοι ἔτʼ ἐν μεγάροις μήτηρ μένει, ἦέ τις ἤδη / ἀνδρῶν ἄλλος ἔγημεν, Ὀδυσσῆος δέ που εὐνὴ / χήτει ἐνευναίων κάκʼ ἀράχνια κεῖται ἔχουσα.(16.33-35), whether my mother still stays in the halls, or whether some other man has already married her, and Odysseus's bed, lacking the one who sleeps in it, lies covered with vile cobwebs.
αὐτὸς μὲν νέος εἰμὶ καὶ οὔ πω χερσὶ πέποιθα / ἄνδρʼ ἀπαμύνασθαι, ὅτε τις πρότερος χαλεπήνῃ· / μητρὶ δʼ ἐμῇ δίχα θυμὸς ἐνὶ φρεσὶ μερμηρίζει,(16.71-73), I am young myself and do not yet trust my hands to repel a man when someone starts the offense; and my mother's heart is divided in two within her mind,
μοῦνον δʼ αὖτʼ Ὀδυσῆα πατὴρ τέκεν· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς / μοῦνον ἔμʼ ἐν μεγάροισι τεκὼν λίπεν οὐδʼ ἀπόνητο. / τῷ νῦν δυσμενέες μάλα μυρίοι εἴσʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ.(16.119-121), and my father in turn begot only Odysseus; and Odysseus, having begotten only me in the halls, left me and got no good from me. Therefore countless enemies are now within the house.
οὐ σύ γʼ Ὀδυσσεύς ἐσσι, πατὴρ ἐμός, ἀλλά με δαίμων / θέλγει, ὄφρʼ ἔτι μᾶλλον ὀδυρόμενος στεναχίζω.(16.194-195), you are not Odysseus, my father, but some god enchants me, so that I weep and groan all the more.
ἀλλὰ λίην μέγα εἶπες· ἄγη μʼ ἔχει· οὐδέ κεν εἴη / ἄνδρε δύω πολλοῖσι καὶ ἰφθίμοισι μάχεσθαι.(16.243-244), but you have said something too great; astonishment seizes me; it would not be possible for two men to fight against many strong ones.
In Book XVII, he goes to the city and tells his mother to bathe and pray to all the gods for vengeance before he recounts the journey. When he sends the guest to beg in the city, he says he cannot support everyone. In the hall, he tells Eumaeus to bring bread to the beggar and rebukes Antinous. He feels the pain of the footstool thrown at his father, does not weep, and shakes his head in silence.
ἐμὲ δʼ οὔ πως ἔστιν ἅπαντας / ἀνθρώπους ἀνέχεσθαι, ἔχοντά περ ἄλγεα θυμῷ·(17.12-13), for me it is not possible to endure all men, though I have pain in my heart;
ἀλλʼ ὑδρηναμένη, καθαρὰ χροῒ εἵμαθʼ ἑλοῦσα, / εἰς ὑπερῷʼ ἀναβᾶσα σὺν ἀμφιπόλοισι γυναιξὶν / εὔχεο πᾶσι θεοῖσι τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας / ῥέξειν, αἴ κέ ποθι Ζεὺς ἄντιτα ἔργα τελέσσῃ.(17.48-51), but having bathed, and taken clean clothes for your body, climb to the upper floor with the maidservants and vow to all the gods to offer perfect hecatombs, if Zeus ever brings to pass the deeds of retribution.
In Book XVIII, he assures the beggar that whoever touches him will fight against many, because he is the host. To his mother, who rebukes him for letting a guest be mistreated, he answers that he is no longer a child, and adds that he has no one to support him. When the uproar breaks out, he cuts short the brawl and sends the suitors to bed.
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ θυμῷ νοέω καὶ οἶδα ἕκαστα, / ἐσθλά τε καὶ τὰ χέρεια· πάρος δʼ ἔτι νήπιος ἦα. / ἀλλά τοι οὐ δύναμαι πεπνυμένα πάντα νοῆσαι· / ἐκ γάρ με πλήσσουσι παρήμενοι ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος / οἵδε κακὰ φρονέοντες, ἐμοὶ δʼ οὐκ εἰσὶν ἀρωγοί.(18.228-232), but I think in my heart and I know each thing, the good and the bad; before, I was still a child. Yet I cannot think everything through with wisdom, for they strike me from every side, sitting around me, these men who plot evil, and I have no one to help me.
δαιμόνιοι, μαίνεσθε καὶ οὐκέτι κεύθετε θυμῷ / βρωτὺν οὐδὲ ποτῆτα· θεῶν νύ τις ὔμμʼ ὀροθύνει. / ἀλλʼ εὖ δαισάμενοι κατακείετε οἴκαδʼ ἰόντες, / ὁππότε θυμὸς ἄνωγε· διώκω δʼ οὔ τινʼ ἐγώ γε.(18.406-409), madmen, you are raving, and you no longer hide in your heart the food and drink; some god is rousing you. But after feasting well, go home and lie down, whenever your heart bids; I drive no one away.
In Book XIX, he carries the weapons inside and asks Eurycleia to keep the maidservants in their quarters. He sees the hall shining with the goddess's light and thinks a god is there.
In Book XX, he seats the beggar by the threshold and tells the suitors that the house is not public, it belongs to Odysseus and to him by inheritance. He answers the ox hoof thrown by Ctesippus by saying he would have run him through with a spear, and that he is no longer a child. He admits that he can bear to see wine and cattle consumed, but not to see guests mistreated and maidservants dragged, and he would rather die than see it. He tells Agelaus that he sends his mother to marry whomever she wishes, but is ashamed to drive her out.
κερτομίας δέ τοι αὐτὸς ἐγὼ καὶ χεῖρας ἀφέξω / πάντων μνηστήρων, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι δήμιός ἐστιν / οἶκος ὅδʼ, ἀλλʼ Ὀδυσῆος, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐκτήσατο κεῖνος.(20.263-265), I myself will keep the insults and the hands of all the suitors away from you, since this house is not public, but Odysseus's, and he acquired it for me.
ἦ γάρ κέν σε μέσον βάλον ἔγχεϊ ὀξυόεντι, / καί κέ τοι ἀντὶ γάμοιο πατὴρ τάφον ἀμφεπονεῖτο / ἐνθάδε. τῷ μή τίς μοι ἀεικείας ἐνὶ οἴκῳ / φαινέτω· ἤδη γὰρ νοέω καὶ οἶδα ἕκαστα, / ἐσθλά τε καὶ τὰ χέρηα· πάρος δʼ ἔτι νήπιος ἦα.(20.306-310), for I would have struck you in the middle with a sharp spear, and your father, instead of a wedding, would be tending your tomb here. So let no one show me indecencies in this house; for now I understand and know each thing, the good and the bad; before, I was still a child.
καί κε τὸ βουλοίμην, καί κεν πολὺ κέρδιον εἴη / τεθνάμεν ἢ τάδε γʼ αἰὲν ἀεικέα ἔργʼ ὁράασθαι, / ξείνους τε στυφελιζομένους δμῳάς τε γυναῖκας / ῥυστάζοντας ἀεικελίως κατὰ δώματα καλά.(20.316-319), I would indeed wish it, and it would be far better to die than to see these shameful deeds forever: guests mistreated and maidservants dragged shamefully through the beautiful halls.
οὔ τι διατρίβω μητρὸς γάμον, ἀλλὰ κελεύω / γήμασθʼ ᾧ κʼ ἐθέλῃ, ποτὶ δʼ ἄσπετα δῶρα δίδωμι. / αἰδέομαι δʼ ἀέκουσαν ἀπὸ μεγάροιο δίεσθαι / μύθῳ ἀναγκαίῳ· μὴ τοῦτο θεὸς τελέσειεν.(20.341-344), I do not hinder my mother's marriage; I bid her marry whomever she wishes, and I even give countless gifts. But I am ashamed to drive her unwilling from the hall with a forceful word; may a god not bring this about.
In Book XXI, he lines up the axes and tries to string the bow: three times he fails, and on the fourth his father stops him with a sign, and he admits his weakness. Then, when Penelope defends the guest, he sends his mother upstairs, saying the bow is a matter for men, and above all for him. He girds on his sword and takes his place beside his father's throne.
καὶ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τοῦ τόξου πειρησαίμην· / εἰ δέ κεν ἐντανύσω διοϊστεύσω τε σιδήρου, / οὔ κέ μοι ἀχνυμένῳ τάδε δώματα πότνια μήτηρ / λείποι ἅμʼ ἄλλῳ ἰοῦσʼ, ὅτʼ ἐγὼ κατόπισθε λιποίμην / οἷός τʼ ἤδη πατρὸς ἀέθλια κάλʼ ἀνελέσθαι.(21.113-117), I will try the bow myself too; and if I string it and shoot through the iron, my honored mother would not leave this house to go with another, leaving me behind grieving, when I am already able to take up my father's splendid prizes.
καί νύ κε δή ῥʼ ἐτάνυσσε βίῃ τὸ τέταρτον ἀνέλκων, / ἀλλʼ Ὀδυσεὺς ἀνένευε καὶ ἔσχεθεν ἱέμενόν περ.(21.128-129), and on the fourth pull, hauling with force, he would have strung it; but Odysseus signaled no and held him back, though he was eager.
ἀλλʼ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σʼ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε, / ἱστόν τʼ ἠλακάτην τε, καὶ ἀμφιπόλοισι κέλευε / ἔργον ἐποίχεσθαι· τόξον δʼ ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει / πᾶσι, μάλιστα δʼ ἐμοί· τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἔστʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ.(21.350-353), but go to your house and attend to your own work, the loom and the distaff, and bid your maids to see to their tasks; the bow will be a matter for men, all of them, and above all for me, for the power in this house is mine.
In Book XXII, he wounds Amphinomus in the back, brings arms to his father and the two servants, admits that he left the door of the armory unbarred, and kills Amphimedon. He asks his father to spare the aoidos Phemius and the herald Medon. He decides that the twelve guilty maidservants will not die a clean death, since they poured insults over his head and his mother's and slept with the suitors, and he hangs them with a ship's cable.
μὴ μὲν δὴ καθαρῷ θανάτῳ ἀπὸ θυμὸν ἑλοίμην / τάων, αἳ δὴ ἐμῇ κεφαλῇ κατʼ ὀνείδεα χεῦαν / μητέρι θʼ ἡμετέρῃ παρά τε μνηστῆρσιν ἴαυον.(22.462-464), let me not take their lives by a clean death, those who poured insults upon my head and my mother's, and who slept with the suitors.
In Book XXIII, he rebukes his mother for her silence before his father, saying that her heart is harder than stone. He leaves the decision about the city to his father and, with the others, makes the house ring with dance to hide the slaughter.
οὐ μέν κʼ ἄλλη γʼ ὧδε γυνὴ τετληότι θυμῷ / ἀνδρὸς ἀφεσταίη, ὅς οἱ κακὰ πολλὰ μογήσας / ἔλθοι ἐεικοστῷ ἔτεϊ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν· / σοὶ δʼ αἰεὶ κραδίη στερεωτέρη ἐστὶ λίθοιο.(23.100-103), no other woman, with a heart so enduring, would keep away from a husband who, after suffering many woes, came in the twentieth year to his native land; but your heart is always harder than stone.
In Book XXIV, in the orchard, he promises his father that he will not shame the line, and Laertes rejoices to see son and grandson competing in excellence.
τίς νύ μοι ἡμέρη ἥδε, θεοὶ φίλοι; ἦ μάλα χαίρω· / υἱός θʼ υἱωνός τʼ ἀρετῆς πέρι δῆριν ἔχουσιν.(24.514-515), what day is this for me, dear gods? I rejoice greatly: son and grandson contend for excellence.
Themes Embodied
Telemachus embodies Family, from the side of the son: the poem shows him measuring what he owes to his absent father, the mother he wants to protect, and the house he wants to keep. He embodies Identity in one who does not yet know who he is, and whom the journey shapes: in the first book he does not know whether he is Odysseus's son, in the twentieth he declares that he is no longer a child. Revenge weighs on him as a model, that of Orestes, whom Athena and Nestor hold up to him. Home, exile, and return appears in the taken-over house he defends.
Telemachus travels to learn about his father and returns with no new news beyond an island. What he brings back are images of the father made by those who knew him: Nestor recalls that no one wanted to match wits with him, Menelaus weeps for him more than for all the others, and Helen recognizes him in the son's face. The journey gives him a father to measure himself against before he meets him again. The reunion is the only one in which the father has to persuade by words and by the explanation of the disguise, and not by a mark on the body. The delay in recognizing his father can be read as the caution of one who was deceived before, or as the disillusionment of one who had already given his father up for dead.
Relationships
- Odysseus: the father he imagines arriving to drive out the suitors, and who ends up at his side, from whom he hears the request to endure the insult to a beggar.
- Penelope: the mother he orders to be quiet in the first book, whom he protects, and from whom he hides the journey and later the secret.
- Athena: the goddess who pushes him, in the guise of Mentes and Mentor, and leaves him the decisions.
- Antinous: the suitor who fears him, sets the ambush, and insults him, and to whom he answers in public.
- Eumaeus and Eurycleia: the servants who receive him with tears and keep his secrets.
- Menelaus and Helen: the hosts in Sparta who give him news of his father and gifts.