Father Figure

A father figure is instrumental to the development of a child; it does not matter whether it is in ancient or contemporary times. A father is a provider and a protector of the household. In the time of The Odyssey, I think a father figure is extremely important, because of their lifestyle, the men live for honor and glory and if a young boy did not have a father to teach him the ways of manhood he might be lost.

From the very beginning of the story the author, Homer, alludes to the skills of Odysseus. “Tell the story/ of that man skilled in all ways of contending.”(Homer, I.1-2) this is the beginning of the story and Homer already paints the picture of how great and skillful Odysseus is; the praise that he receives from the first time they mention him.

The same cannot be said of the first time Homer refers to Telemakhos, Odysseus’s son. Grey-eyed Athena said, “I shall visit Ithaka / to put more courage in the son.”(Homer, I.110-111) this shows that Tlemakhos has all the makings of his father courage and valor; he just has not developed his potential. However, it is interesting that grey-eyed Athena feels that it is her responsibility to instill courage into Telemakhos and not Odysseus. Homer shows the distinction in character from father to son. It raises the question, is Telemakhos’s lack of courage a direct result of Odysseus not being there to help raise his son?

I guess you can say that from the moment of his birth Telemakhos was cursed because he was born Odysseus’s son; he had to live-up to the reputation of Odysseus, son of Laertes and the gods of old, great captain, commander of the sea, master mariner and soldier, the great tactician, and the great master of invention, strong and wise; and no one to teach him how. The absence of his father also prevented him from going out into the world on his own journey to learn and make a name for himself because he had to stay in the house and protect his father’s house and wife. This also contributed to his slow development to manhood.

Telemakhos did not live a traditional childhood; instead of having his father home allowing him to be a child playing and learning the lessons of manhood from him, he had to learn on his own. He also had to assume the responsibilities of being the man of the house without being ready. He had to protect his father’s house and wife from the suitors. Here you start to notice how infantile Telemakhos is. He is unhappy about the suitors coming and going as they pleased, eating the live stock of his father, and trying to marry his mother; and yet he does nothing, except daydream about the day his father will come and save them, instead of him doing something and saving himself. He has shown that he does not posses the same leadership abilities as his father. He then expresses his feelings;   Telemakhos tells grey-eyed Athena, “I wish at least I had some happy man / as father, growing old in his own house.”(Homer, I.254-255) to me this shows evidence of how he longs to benefit from a male role model and how he is not ready to assume the role of the man of the house and protector.

The biggest proof that Odysseus’s lack of presence affected Telemakhos’s growth was in their battle against the suitors; when Telemakhos inexplicably left the door of the storeroom open where the weapons were. This shows how inexperienced in combat the son of the great tactician was. It is ironic, on one hand you have Odysseus a great warrior who defeated anyone and anything he came across in his journey, and on the other hand his son who is completely the opposite of his father, with undeveloped battle skills. His father would have never made that mistake.

I feel that Telemakhos never really grew up because from the beginning of the story when he was daydreaming of the time his father will come and rescue the household, he himself never did anything to command honor and respect. When he tried to stand up for himself the suitors laughed at him and did not take him seriously. The only respect he had was because of his father’s name. Telemakhos never made a name for himself. And to the Greeks (I think) that is the definition of being a man.