Telemachus
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Telemachus was the son of Odysseus, a son left behind when his father went away to the Trojan War. Odysseus would be gone for thirty years, and his time away from home can be divided into thirds--for the first ten years, he was fighting the Trojan War; he was lost on the way home and spent ten years on an island, despairing of ever returning home; and finally he spends ten years making his way back once he is released from this form of bondage. Telemachus grows to manhood without a father, and during that time he must face the need to protect his mother from the rapacious suitors who are after what would be Telemachus's inheritance. In the course of the poem The Odyssey by Homer, Telemachus grows up, beginning as a callow youth who wants only for his father to return to save himself and his mother to a man who can stand beside his father and fight those suitors who have, literally, eaten them out of house and home. This analysis will suggest a Freudian interpretation of the development of Telemachus, the meaning of that development, and the relationship between the boy and his mother and father. The Greek story of the siege of Troy and of the warriors on both sides who fought over Helen resulted in a number of major literary works following one warrior or another either through the battle or through the aftermath of the war. Homer told the story of Troy in detail in The Iliad, and he then followed the character of Odysseus on the twenty yea
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he has been left behind as a powerless male head of the family now that his grandfather has withdrawn to his own lands. The boy knows that his mother needs help in resisting the suitors who want to take over Odysseus's lands. These lands would rightfully belong to Telemachus if his mother does not remarry--inheritance seems to be through the mother at this time and to depend in some way on her marital status.
Telemachus is polite even to the offending suitors--when Athena arrives dressed as Mentes, the suitors ignore her while Telemachus greets her and discusses his father with her. Athena makes a comparison between the loyalty of Telemachus and Penelope for Odysseus with the treachery that greeted Agamemnon on his return. Telemachus changes in this scene, taking on more of the characteristics of the male head of the household and ordering the suitors about in a way that he never did before. He is still only a boy, and they pay little attention. Penelope takes note, though, as Telemachus states that he is now the master of the house, for she has always thought of him as a little boy. However, at this point all Telemachus can think of to do is seek aid elsewhere and make a journey in search of his father. He views his fat
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Some common words found in the essay are:
FREUD Freud, Odysseus Odyssey, CONCLUSION Telemachus, Penelope Odysseus, Poseidon Odysseus, Trojan Horse, Freud Oedipus, Homer Telemachus, BACKGROUND Greek, Trojan War, protect mother, father mother, reach home, greeks reach home, odyssey homer, oedipus complex, male head, moral prohibitions, course poem, insists exploring island, father return, greeks reach,
Approximate Word count = 2187
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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