Telemachus Character Analysis Essay

Telemachus Growing into a Strong Mature Man

Samuel Ullman, an American businessman and poet, once said, “Maturity is the ability to think, speak, and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity.” Samuel’s words hold true in Homer 's The Odyssey. In this extraordinary poem, Telemachus, the Son of Penelope, queen of Ithaca, and Odysseus, king of Ithaca. While Odysseus is at war fighting, Telemachus losing fait about his father coming home. He soon starts to question that he could be dead or alive. Regardless of Telemachus undoing, he shows that he grows from a boy to a man throughout The Odyssey.

Telemachus is a boy in the beginning because he is weak. One example of Telemachus as a boy being weak is he is holding a belief that his father,

273-275). This shows Telemachus being weak, because he has lost all hope for his father and his return and he also holds belief that his father, Odysseus is dead. This proves that Telemachus is still a boy in the beginning because, he is showing weakness by giving up and believing that Odysseus is dead and will never return. Another example of Telemachus being weak in the beginning is that he continues to lose hope and doubt his father 's return to Ithaca. Telemachus says, “Eurymachus, clearly my father 's journey home is lost forever/ I no longer trust in rumors from the blue/ nor bother with any prophecy, when mother calls/ some wizard into the house to ask him questions” (1. 470-473). This shows that Telemachus is weak because Telemachus continues to say that Odysseus is not returning and that he should just give up and lose all hope. This proves that Telemachus is a boy still, because he will not trust no man that returns rumors from the blue even if they might be true and that Odysseus is not coming back. A final example of Telemachus being weak in the beginning is he is just as weak as his mother,