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Rishi Garg

English 10, 1st Period

Mr. Fox

21 March 2008

From Boy to Man: the Emotional Journey of Telemachus

Throughout “The Odyssey”, Telemachus gains a lot of maturity from

many different sources. However, there are two specific passages in the

poem where he shows extremities of his development: Book Two and Book

22. These two sections of the poem best describe his emotional journey from

being a boy to becoming a man worthy of being called Odysseus’ son.

In the main portion of Book Two, Telemachus calls the citizens of Ithaca

to full assembly. He then proceeds to verbally condemn the suitors for

plaguing his house and bothering his mother. Two of the suitors, Antinous

and Eurymachus, defend themselves by arguing that Penelope has been

leading a game of trickery and deceit by not telling the suitors that she

wishes to wait for Odysseus. The exact section of the Book that describes

Telemachus’ personality is lines 2.1-230. In these lines, along with

denouncing the suitors’ presence in his house, Telemachus speaks about his

woes and how he is not strong enough to drive the suitors away. He says:

“Now we have no man like Odysseus in command to drive this curse from

the house” (2.63-64). This simple statement reflects that Telemachus

strongly believes that although his father is very powerful, he himself is a

pathetically weak little boy who is incapable of telling grown men what to do.
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He continues his speech by saying: “We ourselves? We’re hardly the ones to

fight them off. All we’d do is parade our wretched weakness. A boy inept at

battle” (2.64-66). These few sentences reveal that Telemachus is very

immature in his thinking, similar to a small boy who is being bullied. He

further states: “Oh I’d swing to attack if I had the power in me” (2.67). This

short line shows that Telemachus is fully aware of his juvenile state of mind.

Telemachus also uses certain types of words in his speech to help

deliver his message. In lines 2.68-70, he uses words such as “intolerable”,

“disgrace”, and “ashamed”. These words commonly bring to mind an image

of an elderly grandmother who is scolding a gang of hooligans. Although she

might be verbally abusing them, she is incapable of fighting them off. Her

situation is similar to Telemachus’, because he is using all the insulting words

he knows to scold the suitors, but is also refraining from physically fighting

with them.

In Book 22, Odysseus, Telemachus, the cowherd, and the swineherd all

collaborate to slaughter every last suitor. Throughout the Book, Telemachus

brutally kills many suitors. He says to his father: “I’ll arm myself on the way

back and hand out arms to the swineherd, arm the cowherd too – we’d better

fight equipped!” (22.110-112). These lines symbolize Telemachus’ great

courage and fortitude. From these lines, it may be discerned that Telemachus

feels that he has the strength to fight alongside his father. Later, when

Melanthius discovers Odysseus’ secret stash of weapons, Telemachus calmly

admits to his failure in lines 22.162-163. This by itself is a strong indication

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that he has learned to take the blame for his mistakes, which is in turn a sign

of maturity. After admitting his mistake, Telemachus instructs the swineherd:

“Go, Eumaeus, shut the door to the storeroom, check and see if it’s one of

the women’s tricks or Dolius’ son Melanthius. He’s our man, I’d say” (22.165-

167). These lines reflect how Telemachus has learned how to take charge and

give instructions. Finally, the fact that he kills many suitors shows that his

courage and maturity have both progressed substantially.

The differences between Telemachus’ maturity and personality in

Books Two and Twenty-Two are vast. In Book Two, his mind is still much like a

small child’s. He believes that he is still a child in his house, albeit a slightly

large one. He also thinks that the only person who is strong enough to drive

the suitors away is his father. However, in Book 22, he has a significantly

greater amount of courage. Telemachus is trying to equal his father in terms

of strength and greatness. In the later Book, he knows that the only way the

suitors will leave is if he does something about it.

Although Telemachus turned into somewhat of a man in Book 22, he

did not mature without help from others. Many people guided him along the

way, including Athena and Odysseus. In Book Two, Athena, disguised as

Mentor, gives Telemachus a very inspirational speech. She says to him:

“You’ll lack neither courage nor sense from this day on, not if your father’s

spirit courses through your veins – now there was a man, I’d say, in words

and action both!” (2.303-305). Athena is using Odysseus as an example and

role model for Telemachus to look up to. She is also subtly setting a goal for
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him: “Few sons are the equals of their fathers; most fall short, all too few

surpass them” (2.309-310). Athena is hinting to Telemachus that he should

aim to meet or exceed his father’s greatness and reputation, or kleos.

In Book 22, Odysseus was Telemachus’ main inspiration for becoming

more mature. When Melanthius begins stealing weapons from the secret

storeroom, Odysseus says to Telemachus: “A bad break in the fight, my boy!

One of the women’s tipped the odds against us – or could it be the

goatherd?” (22.160-161). Odysseus calls Telemachus “my boy”, signifying

that he wants to build a relationship of trust and guidance. Also, the fact that

Odysseus begins his sentence with a statement but changes it to a question

reveals that he is using a very subtle technique of guidance; by asking

Telemachus for his judgment on the situation, he is effectively forcing

Telemachus to give a proper and mature answer.

As shown in Book Two, Telemachus is guided mainly by Athena

throughout the first half of the whole poem. Although she disguises herself

as many different people, Telemachus knows that she is a god and he learns

a lot about his father from her. In a way, Athena prepared Telemachus for his

future “Atonement with the Father”. Later in the poem, as shown in Book 22,

Odysseus becomes Telemachus’ main source of guidance. Athena helped

Telemachus’ maturity and courage grow mentally and emotionally, whereas

Odysseus helped him grow physically.

In conclusion, Telemachus gained a great deal of courage and maturity

from many different sources. The poem opens with Telemachus behaving like
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a small boy, too frightened to take any action against the suitors. This

behavior can be seen in Book Two. However, after Athena guides him, he

becomes a much stronger person, both physically and mentally. Finally, when

he meets his father, he completes his emotional journey from boy to man.

This can be seen in Book 22. Telemachus’ transformation is so immensely

great that I believe it is safe to say that if either Athena or Odysseus had not

been involved in his life, Telemachus would have remained a boy.