Telemachus is unsure about his role as prince. He has always been told he is Odysseus son, but it isn’t etched in stone. His mother could be deceiving him all along. Telemachus is still a young boy and is trying to grow into an adult. He has the potential to become a worthy king. This would be a very difficult task with no one that supports or loves you.
Even the finest leaders need help and acceptance from others. He has to learn to work together with the people of his palace and turn it into something great. This is like the food chain one animal has to have the other animals or they wouldn’t survive. Someone should take the head position and Telemachus is the one. Telemachus obviously believes Odysseys is his father, or else he would have never left to try and find him. His whole life has been centered around his father, and the great legend that he was.
These are some big shoes for Telemachus to fill and he is hoping that Athena will guide him on the right path. “Antinous how can I drive my mother from our house against her will, the one who bore me, reared me too. My father is worlds away, dead or alive, who knows imagine the high price I’d have to pay Icarius if all on my own I send my mother home. Oh what I would suffer from her father.” These are the only people Telemachus has known, and whether or not they are his family he will stick by them to the end.
They may have some problems, but Telemachus is willing to deal with whatever comes his way. “Fit out a ship with twenty oars, the best in sight, sail in quest of news of your long-lost father. First go down to Pylos, question old King Nestor, then cross over to Sparta, to red-haired Menelaus, of all the bronze-armored Achaeans the last man back. Now, if you hear your father’s alive and heading home, hard pressed as you are, brave out one more year. If you hear he’s dead, no longer among the living, then back you come to the native land you love, raise his grave-mound, build his honors high with the full funeral rites that he deserves, and give your mother to another husband.” This passage explains Telemachus and his whole dilemma. He is in search of the truth.
In his journey Telemachus is going to encounter many difficulties, but he will also find out what really happened to his father. Telemachus has a hole in his life that needs to be repaired. By leaving on his mission and trying to bring closure to his story Telemachus will finally know the answer to his fathers whereabouts. His voyage will also help him to become a grown man that can take charge when other people are in need. Furthermore his actions will give him courage and strength to get rid of the suitors.
They are plaguing his mother, yet nothing is being done. Hopefully Telemachus will realize what an important figure he is and take control of the task ahead. His father was a powerful and just man, and Telemachus has these same traits inside himself. He opts to be passive and complain about his problem to anyone with a willing ear. The suitors are enjoying themselves in his father’s palace and disgracing his honor.
Telemachus should not let this madness go on any longer. There is only one thing holding back the true self of Telemachus and that is inspiration. All he needs is a push, and he receives this strength from the powerful godess Athena. She urges him to do what is right by taking action and trying to resolve his family’s long hardship.
Telemachus will only know the truth when he finds his father. His journey will be rough, yet in the end his dilemma will finally be resolved.
