The goddess Athena is the guiding force behind Telemachus’ journey. Throughout the first four Books she acts as a guardian angel to him and aids him in all of his challenges. Disguised as Men

tor, an old friend of Odysseus, she begins to tell him things about his father and eventually prompts him to embark on his journey. One of Athena’s first promptings comes on page 83 of the text, she says, “I tell you great Odysseus is not dead. He’s still alive, / somewhere in this wide world, held captive out at sea, on a weave-washed island, and hard men, savages, / somehow hold him back against his will.” This is the first time Telemachus learns anything about his father’s current whereabouts, but at this point he has not matured enough to take any action. We see that he is still very boyish when he continues to weep to the goddess about his misfortune, claiming that the gods have taken “vengeance” against him and his family and “wiped that man from the earth.” Near the end of this same encounter, however, we see the first signs of Telemachus’ growth. Athena tells him specifically what his journey will entail. She tells him that he first must call a meeting and order the suitors to leave the estate, then he must journey away from Ithaca and go to Pylos and Sparta to see Odysseus’ old comrades Nestor and Menelaus to see if they have any information regarding his father. Before she departs as Mentor, she foreshadows what the ultimate result of Telemachus’ journey will be when she says, “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer-, / it’s time you were a man.” It is here that Telemachus finally shows a sign that he is maturing; he tells Athena that he will follow her advice and that he will begin his journey immediately.

In Book four Telemachus goes to Sparta where he meets Menelaus and Helen. The two recognize Telemachus because of his astounding resemblance to his father. Homer may be using this as a symbol to show that Telemachus is growing, both physically and emotionally, to be more and more like the great Odysseus. Menelaus and Helen tell him stories of his father’s great expeditions at Troy and these stories greatly rouse his confidence. Interestingly, this is very similar to an event in Homer’s Iliad, when the Argive king Agamemnon first rouses the warrior Diomedes by reminding him of his great fathers strength and ability. In both instances, the reference to the greatness of each character’s father incites them to become greater men thems

Some topics in this essay:
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