Homer - The Odyssey - Episode 2 - Telemachus Begins The Journey To Manhood And Finding Odysseus!
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Homer - The Odyssey - Episode 2 - Telemachus Begins The Journey To Manhood And Finding Odysseus!
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Hi, I\\u2019m Christy Shriver and we\\u2019re her to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.\\xa0
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And I\\u2019m Garry Shriver, and this is the How to love lit podcast.\\xa0 Today is our second episode covering the first and perhaps foremost author in what is often described as the Western Canon- Homer and his famous epic, The Odyssey.\\xa0 Last week, we discussed a little of the historical context surrounding the mysterious origins of the story- the Bronze age, the Myceneans and the Trojan war.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But besides the origins of the stories, we also discussed the origins of Homer himself, if there was such a man.\\xa0\\xa0It is thought that\\xa0Homer lived 400 years after the timeframe of the settings\\xa0of the stories\\xa0he tells in his epics.\\xa0 His version of\\xa0The Odyssey\\xa0was solidified in or around 750 BCE.\\xa0 Tradition claims he was a blind bard who began this famous tale invoking\\xa0the\\xa0muse\\xa0who had shared it with him,\\xa0and within his stories the religion and cultural heritage of the Greeks has not only been preserved and passed down, but\\xa0the tales\\xa0have\\xa0influenced the writing, thinking and worldviews of innumerable cultures around the world. Like most first book episodes, however,\\xa0in episode 1\\xa0we didn\\u2019t get far into the story itself, we stayed in the opening of book 1.\\xa0 At the beginning of book 1, we meet Homer himself invoking the Muse to tell us Odysseus\\u2019 story.\\xa0 But then, the skies are opened before us and we are swiftly taken upward to the mighty Mt Olympus where we are privileged with a\\xa0glimpse\\xa0 inside\\xa0a discussion between the gods where Zeus brings up Agamemnon\\u2019s son, Orestes, avenging his father\\u2019s murder by killing his own mother and her lover after they plotted\\xa0and\\xa0killed\\xa0him on his return from Troy.\\xa0 We are reminded by Zeus himself that men tend to blame the gods for everything\\xa0that happens to them, but that there are many things that happen to us that are indeed our own fault.\\xa0\\xa0 Zeus talks about the case of Agamemnon\\u2019s son avenging his death\\xa0as an example.\\xa0 Following this, Athena brings up the case of Odysseus, the mortal she likes.\\xa0 She requests Zeus\\u2019 permission and help\\xa0to help bring\\xa0Odysseus\\xa0home, even though he has foolishly angered Zeus\\u2019 brother, Poseidon,\\xa0god\\xa0of the sea, by blinding one of his sons, the cyclops, Polyphemus.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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The Odyssey really has\\xa0quite a complicated set up in some ways,\\xa0and this week\\u2019s episode which will cover the\\xa0Telemachy\\xa0is\\xa0really more\\xa0set up before we\\xa0even meet the namesake\\xa0main character, Odysseus in book 5.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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There is a lot going on,\\xa0there are\\xa0a lot of Greek characters, a lot of\\xa0backstory\\xa0to explain why things are the way they are.\\xa0Certainly\\xa0a lot of intrigue and\\xa0treachery has\\xa0already taken place\\xa0before\\xa0we meet Odysseus on Ogygia\\u2019s island, and\\xa0we learn a lot of this context\\xa0in the\\xa0Telemachy.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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True-\\xa0the\\xa0Telemachy\\xa0or the first four books in the epic\\xa0centers around Telemachus- and that is the name of Odysseus\\u2019 son.\\xa0 Odysseus\\u2019 wife is named Penelope,\\xa0and they had a son right before he had to leave against his will for the Trojan War.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0The Odyssey opens with the story of Odysseus\\u2019 son, but\\xa0here in the\\xa0Telemachy\\xa0we also meet Penelope.\\xa0 We meet\\xa0Eurycleia.\\xa0 She\\u2019s a slave who has been a nurse for both Odysseus.\\xa0 We meet\\xa0Mentor.\\xa0 It starts about a month before Odysseus arrives\\xa0back in his homeland\\xa0after his absences of 20 years.\\xa0 In these first four books,\\xa0we learn\\xa0that Ithaca is\\xa0in total\\xa0chaos.\\xa0 There is no leadership, no code of morality, no enforcer of the rules.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0There has not been\\xa0a\\xa0assembly of the community in twenty years.\\xa0\\xa0After the first four books of the\\xa0Telemachy\\xa0,\\xa0the story switches over to Odysseus\\u2019\\xa0captivity in book 5, where Hermes arrives at Ogygia and tells Calypso she must\\xa0let Odysseus get home\\xa0explaining to the reluctant\\xa0nympyh\\xa0that\\xa0it is not his fate to stay with her forever.\\xa0 The story of Odysseus\\u2019 difficult journey from\\xa0Calypso\\u2019s island\\xa0is from books 5-9- the stories about his journey over the last\\xa010 years are told in the context of a flashback.\\xa0 In chapter 15, we resume the\\xa0Telemachy, with Telemachus arriving back home, and then in Book 16\\xa0Telemachus and Odysseus reunite and\\xa0from there\\xa0the story takes a totally different\\xa0direction\\xa0as these two seek to restore order and justice to Ithaca.\\xa0 So, yes, it\\u2019s slightly complicated.\\xa0\\xa0But what do we expect from an epic!!!\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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I think it\\u2019s\\xa0likely that if you were Greek listening to this story being sung by Homer, himself, you already knew the stories at least in part, so the complicated plot line and characters\\xa0weren\\u2019t confusing\\xa0like\\xa0they\\xa0can be for\\xa0us today.\\xa0But even\\xa0today, so many of us are familiar with\\xa0many of these story lines from different places.\\xa0\\xa0For example, just the name mentor- I\\u2019ve heard that word used all my life, but I didn\\u2019t know Mentor was the name of a man in the Odyssey who mentored Telemachus.\\xa0 There\\u2019s a lot of references\\xa0in pop culture to a lot that we\\u2019re reading- from\\xa0the various gods\\xa0that show up\\xa0in\\xa0movies, or\\xa0monsters that have found their way\\xa0in video games,\\xa0or even just portions of the stories that have been told in things like\\xa0cartoons.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Things like cyclops and sirens\\xa0are a part of the culture of the world, and it seems I\\u2019ve always known what they were\\xa0not necessarily knowing they came from The Odyssey.\\xa0\\xa0For me, the best way to read this book, is not to try to keep track of all the names and characters.\\xa0 It\\u2019s easy to\\xa0get\\xa0\\xa0lost\\xa0in the details of the different digressions.\\xa0I found that just reading\\xa0through\\xa0is the best plan- and if\\xa0I\\xa0forget who Mentes is\\xa0or\\xa0Eurymachus, I can still understand what\\u2019s happening in the story.\\xa0 It doesn\\u2019t hurt\\xa0the overall understanding if\\xa0we don\\u2019t\\xa0understand every detail of every story Menelaus, Nestor\\xa0or Helen want to share with Telemachus.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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No, I agree,\\xa0the main ideas are easy to follow.\\xa0\\xa0For one reason and this was also one\\xa0thing we talked about last week is how Homer pares down the complicated Greek\\xa0pantheon of gods to a\\xa0number\\xa0small enough for us to manage,\\xa0so the pantheon of gods isn\\u2019t what is going to confuse us.\\xa0 Once you know who Athena, Zeus,\\xa0Poseidon\\xa0and Hermes are, you are pretty much good to go, and these we will\\xa0learn in context.\\xa0But another reason is because the focus isn\\u2019t on the gods it\\u2019s on the family- and even that is pared down.\\xa0 We are concerned about\\xa0Odysseus\\u2019 family.\\xa0 The value and the place of the family is very important\\xa0to Homer and to Greek culture.\\xa0 Odysseus, as well as the other characters, but let\\u2019s focus on Odysseus, always identifies himself in relation to his\\xa0family- his\\xa0father, Laertes, his son,\\xa0Telemachus,\\xa0 and/ or his wife, Penelope.\\xa0 Understanding what\\xa0these\\xa0basic\\xa0family relationships mean is of great interest to Homer.\\xa0 What does it mean\\xa0to be a father, a son, a wife?\\xa0 What do we do with these roles?\\xa0\\xa0How do they form our identity?\\xa0
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\\xa0So,the\\xa0Telemachy\\xa0which\\xa0is the first four books\\xa0of the Odyssey\\xa0focuses on\\xa0Telemachus\\xa0as\\xa0the starting point of the story,\\xa0which is a little unusual.\\xa0\\xa0Telemachus\\xa0is not the protagonist of the Odyssey.\\xa0\\xa0He\\u2019s also not very heroic, at least not as we think of Greek heroes.\\xa0 In fact, a lot of literary critics absolutely reject Telemachus\\xa0as anything but drain on Odysseus.\\xa0 I am not going to see him like that.\\xa0\\xa0I see\\xa0Telemachus\\u2019\\xa0role\\xa0as unique, for sure.\\xa0\\xa0And,\\xa0he definitely is not a returning hero\\xa0like his future, but he is still\\xa0the future-\\xa0but it is a different future.\\xa0 He is\\xa0the future for Odysseus, the future for Ithaca\\xa0and will have to be defined differently.\\xa0\\xa0Whatever Odysseus is to be in this world\\xa0after he returns from Troy, he will be it in the context of his\\xa0family\\xa0relationships- and when we see Odysseus on the island with Calypso, we see him understanding himself just in that way.\\xa0 Calypso has offered him immortality,\\xa0but\\xa0it\\u2019s not what he wants.\\xa0 As\\xa0great as he is, as a hero, as a warrior, as a pirate, he is nothing alone, and so\\xa0before we meet Odysseus in chapter five crying and groaning for home,\\xa0we start by looking at Telemachus- the personification of Odysseus\\u2019 home.\\xa0 One thing to notice about Telemachus as a character, and this is something I didn\\u2019t know until I\\xa0researched him for this podcast, is that Telemachus\\xa0is the ONLY character in Greek literature that is not a static character.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Just as a refresher, let me remind everyone that\\xa0Static characters are characters that don\\u2019t change in stories. The character traits that define them at the end of the story are the same as the ones in the beginning and usually the one that creates the tragedy.\\xa0\\xa0We saw this in both\\xa0Oedipus and Antigone.\\xa0 No one\\xa0in those stories is\\xa0willing to change- hence the problem.\\xa0 Dynamic characters are characters that are changed by the experiences of the story- either for the better or for the worse, so you\\u2019re saying that\\xa0NO other characters besides Telemachus experience change over time\\xa0or grow up?\\xa0
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I\\u2019m not saying it.\\xa0 Greek scholars CMH Millar and JWS Carmichael\\xa0made that claim in the journal Greece and Rome, but yes- that\\u2019s it exactly.\\xa0 Greeks are famous for their\\xa0tragedies, but how the stories are set up with those chorus\\u2019 and all,\\xa0it\\u2019s not designed\\xa0for characters to develop\\xa0inside the story- maybe between stories- Oedipus certainly changes between stories, but not within a story.\\xa0 Telemachus is the only character where, the point of him is to see him change over time.\\xa0So, whatever this change is, is obviously something very important to Homer.\\xa0\\xa0And for Homer, the change is\\xa0explicitly\\xa0stated- it is not implied- it is absolutely\\xa0stated through the various characters who will talk to Telemachus.\\xa0 Homer is interested in showing us\\xa0how\\xa0a boy\\xa0becomes\\xa0a man.\\xa0 Now, let me make\\xa0the\\xa0one\\xa0obvious\\xa0disclaimer, I am going to use gendered language because\\xa0this is the way the ancient Greeks thought of this\\xa0idea\\xa0today\\xa0we call\\xa0coming of age- but please\\xa0understand that this journey of self-discovery is not exclusively male\\xa0\\u2013 it\\u2019s not even exclusively a path from childhood to adulthood, although that\\u2019s always the language we employ\\xa0and a good way of understanding this.\\xa0
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No- I think\\xa0psychologically speaking, we could say that many adults never arrive to this sense\\xa0of\\xa0 manhood\\xa0if you want to use the gendered language of the Greeks.\\xa0 What\\xa0Homer is\\xa0clearly talking about is that place in\\xa0a\\xa0life\\u2019s\\xa0journey where any individual\\xa0takes up the burden of personal responsibility- the\\xa0transition from passive agent in one\\u2019s life to active agent.\\xa0 This is something that we think of as being nurtured\\xa0by parenting\\xa0because role models are how we learn in this world.\\xa0\\xa0But\\xa0parenting\\xa0is a luxury not everyone\\xa0experiences.\\xa0 What do you do if you have no healthy role models in your world\\xa0for whatever reason?\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0And what if you do- is a privileged birth a guarantee of future success?\\xa0What we can see clearly\\xa0in\\xa0the life of Telemachus, especially if you compare him with the suitors and other sons in the\\xa0Telemachy\\xa0is that nothing is guaranteed-\\xa0regardless of your advantages or disadvantages.\\xa0\\xa0This acceptance of personal responsibility that the Greeks are representing through this language of becoming a man\\xa0is something that no one can do for\\xa0anyone else-\\xa0 either\\xa0a person\\xa0takes\\xa0on the burden of responsibility for\\xa0his or herself\\xa0and\\xa0the\\xa0others\\xa0who are in\\xa0their\\xa0orbit\\xa0or\\xa0a person\\xa0doesn\\u2019t.\\xa0\\xa0The suitors certainly\\xa0think there is a shortcut to success,\\xa0and so\\xa0did the man who killed\\xa0Agamemnon.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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But, the gods\\xa0don\\u2019t allow these kinds of people to succeed ultimately- in the cases you just\\xa0mentioned\\xa0 both\\xa0of these groups\\xa0experience\\xa0\\xa0the same fate- death.\\xa0\\xa0Homer\\u2019s gods\\xa0absolutely make sure everyone gets hit with something- not even King Menelaus himself, married to the most beautiful woman in the world escapes\\xa0the twists and turns of fate thrown at them by\\xa0the gods.\\xa0\\xa0But as we are told in the first lines of the story- what we do with the circumstances we are given are in large part\\xa0what will seal the outcome of our existences.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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And\\xa0so\\xa0the\\xa0challenge\\xa0of facing one individual\\u2019s\\xa0particular fate\\xa0is broken down\\xa0by\\xa0looking at the particular circumstances facing Telemachus at this\\xa0particular age.\\xa0 Most scholars suggest he is\\xa0probably 20, but that\\u2019s not explicitly stated anywhere.\\xa0\\xa0I think it\\u2019s also interesting to note that the things he\\xa0has to\\xa0deal with are\\xa0tremendously difficult problems and they are also\\xa0not his fault.\\xa0 Telemachus knows this and does what most people\\xa0at least want to\\xa0do when\\xa0we\\xa0are faced\\xa0with tremendously large and difficult problems that are not our fault.\\xa0 We meet Telemachus in the\\xa0beginning\\xa0 casting\\xa0blame and\\xa0sulking.\\xa0 He\\u2019s angry,\\xa0but\\xa0honestly\\xa0it\\u2019s\\xa0easy\\xa0life.\\xa0 He gets pushed around by people who have literally injected themselves into his world, and he just sits in a corner.\\xa0\\xa0
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\\xa0I find it interesting that at\\xa0one point Telemachus even\\xa0claims that he\\u2019s not even sure who his father is-\\xa0even though- no one else seems to question this at all.\\xa0 It\\u2019s\\xa0that kind of \\u2018who am I\\u2019 that seems to be casting blame.\\xa0 None of what we see in Telemachus here is very admirable or helpful.\\xa0\\xa0 Homer\\xa0clearly\\xa0illustrates\\xa0the cost of\\xa0doing nothing-\\xa0regardless of the reason- and there are lots of good reasons to do nothing-\\xa0\\xa0Telemachus\\xa0has reasons\\xa0to\\xa0be intimidated.\\xa0\\xa0 He\\u2019s young, he\\u2019s outnumbered by men who are better trained, larger and older than he is.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0He\\xa0doesn\\u2019t have\\xa0any\\xa0personal strength\\xa0of\\xa0mind, but maybe not\\xa0of\\xa0body either.\\xa0At\\xa0least at\\xa0this point in the story, we can\\u2019t be sure\\xa0of how strong or smart he is.\\xa0 He hasn\\u2019t done anything to show us one way or the other.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Yes- and\\xa0I\\u2019m glad you brought up strength of mind-\\xa0\\xa0you\\xa0have brought us exactly back to Athena- the goddess of wisdom.\\xa0\\xa0That\\u2019s who Telemachus needs and that who comes to intervene on his behalf.\\xa0\\xa0The best of us are the ones who are good at listening to\\xa0Athena, and\\xa0thinking of wisdom as a Greek goddess speaking in\\xa0our\\xa0ear- is a very lovely way to\\xa0conceptualize\\xa0this.\\xa0\\xa0In this case, he will\\xa0hear a little voice speaking to\\xa0him\\xa0from outside of\\xa0himself.\\xa0 It will be on him\\xa0to decide\\xa0whether or not\\xa0to listen to the voice.\\xa0\\xa0Let us jump into the story and see\\xa0how Athena meets Telemachus in book 1.\\xa0 One magical element of the story is that\\xa0Athena is a\\xa0shape-shifter.\\xa0 She can appear to people as anything or anyone she wants and that is what she does.\\xa0 She is going to approach Telemachus as\\xa0an old family friend, a neighboring king, a man by the name of Mentes.\\xa0 As Mentes, she enters\\xa0his house.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Telemachus receives her/him well.\\xa0 He gives him a seat of honor and tries to take care of the stranger.\\xa0 It doesn\\u2019t appear that he knows him.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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No, and Athena, as Mentes,\\xa0prophecies that his father will come home.\\xa0 But Telemachus is despondent.\\xa0 He\\u2019s bitter at what has happened.\\xa0 He\\u2019s angry people have moved in and are taking over his home, siphoning off his wealth, and that his mother can\\u2019t seem to do anything about it.\\xa0 But it never occurs to him that HE can do anything himself.\\xa0 He dreams of the day when his father will come back, he also longs to be famous\\xa0in his own right. He\\xa0dreams, but he cannot conceive of taking\\xa0initiative himself.\\xa0 Athena, the voice of wisdom must awaken\\xa0him.\\xa0 Let\\u2019s read what she says in the person of Mentes\\xa0
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First of all, he must remember who he is.\\xa0\\xa0He\\xa0is a son- a member of a family, he has responsibility to himself,\\xa0but also\\xa0to his father\\xa0dead or alive as well as\\xa0his mother.\\xa0\\xa0Athena\\xa0charges him to take up that banner of responsibility, but then she gives him a very practical plan.\\xa0 Do this 1)\\xa0get a boat, 2) find some associates 3)\\xa0go get some advice from older successful men.\\xa0 Find out the status of your family.\\xa0 After you have information\\xa0as to your actual status,\\xa0come back and take hold of your own life.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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It\\u2019s also interesting that she compares him to this other prince\\xa0we\\u2019ve heard about from Zeus, Prince Orestes\\xa0who killed Aegisthus,\\xa0a different lord who had made a play on his birthright and had taken him down.\\xa0\\xa0There is this idea that gods will help you, but it\\u2019s on you to take down your rivals.\\xa0\\xa0Over the next\\xa0three\\xa0books, Telemachus kind of wakes\\xa0up\\xa0to this idea that nobody is coming- although in his case, someone IS coming, but Athena doesn\\u2019t let him know that.\\xa0\\xa0
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\\xa0He wakes up to his own independence- his separateness from his mother, his nurse, his mentor, even this father- he is going to become comfortable with his\\xa0own personhood.\\xa0 Leaving home\\xa0was Athena\\u2019s strategy to enable this to happen in him.\\xa0 He wakes\\xa0up\\xa0to a sense of responsibility- that it\\u2019s on him to make something happen but\\xa0lastly,\\xa0he also wakes up to the difficulties of his mother\\u2019s position.\\xa0 He doesn\\u2019t come across as empathetic at first, but this changes as he himself matures\\xa0and we see this in book 15- he\\xa0moves\\xa0to\\xa0viewing his mother as a woman with complicated choices and\\xa0respects what she\\u2019s managed to do\\xa0and\\xa0I, as a mom, appreciated this change in attitude, for sure.\\xa0When Telemachus talks to his mom in book 1, and I know this is my own cultural understanding of a text of a different culture, but I was offended at how rude he appeared to me- more offended than\\xa0Penelope\\xa0was.\\xa0\\xa0He bosses her around.\\xa0 I want to read this, \\u201cSo mother, go back to your\\xa0quarters.\\xa0 Tend to your own tasks, the\\xa0distaff\\xa0and the loom, and keep\\xa0the women working hard as well.\\xa0 As for giving orders, men will see to that, but I most of all: I hold the reins of power in this house.\\u201d\\xa0\\xa0I would have wanted to say, young man, don\\u2019t talk to your mother like that.\\xa0\\xa0But,\\xa0her reaction is not one of offense, but the word the\\xa0Fagles\\xa0uses is \\u201castonished\\u201d.\\xa0 And she obeys him\\xa0almost happy.\\xa0 It says she took to heart \\u201cthe clear good sense in what her son had said.\\u201d\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Well, I think she was astonished.\\xa0 Here is this young man who has never taken agency in his life, and now he\\u2019s going to try\\xa0to stand up\\xa0to her and to the suitors.\\xa0\\xa0She seems to be glad he\\u2019s at least owning the fact that he has responsibility\\xa0in this household.\\xa0\\xa0This is new.\\xa0\\xa0In some ways, especially if you compare him to Orestes who is likely the same age as he is- that Telemachus might even be an embarrassment\\xa0to her.\\xa0 The suitors certainly have no respect for him.\\xa0 In the very next\\xa0paragraph\\xa0it says they and I quote, \\u201cbroke into uproar\\xa0through the shadowed halls, all of them lifting prayers to lie beside her, share her bed.\\u201d\\xa0\\xa0Penelope has been and\\xa0IS\\xa0\\xa0in\\xa0real danger\\xa0with\\xa0no protection at all.\\xa0\\xa0Now\\xa0Telemachus tells the\\xa0suitors\\xa0to leave;\\xa0they are amazed that he is willing to talk to them like that,\\xa0even if\\xa0they don\\u2019t\\xa0show any signs of\\xa0actually moving\\xa0or conceding space.\\xa0 Antinous says this, \\u201cI pray that Zeus will never make YOU king of Ithaca, though your father\\u2019s crown is no doubt yours by birth.\\u201d\\xa0 In other words, I know this is your birth right but if you cannot claim it, you cannot have it.\\xa0\\xa0The idea being, even if something is yours by birthright, it\\u2019s not really yours until you can claim it.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Leadership as we all know, is more than a position,\\xa0there must be an element of person\\xa0charisma\\xa0that creates\\xa0respect.\\xa0 When someone is supposed to be\\xa0charge who\\xa0does have\\xa0personal\\xa0charisma and\\xa0who\\xa0cannot\\xa0garner respect, someone else who does\\xa0will snatch it\\xa0regardless of who holds the official\\xa0position.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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And that\\u2019s where we are in the story here in Book 1.\\xa0 Telemachus should\\xa0be a king, but he is trapped in a place where he can\\u2019t get anyone to respect him even if he wanted them to.\\xa0\\xa0
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According to Aristotle, albeit years later,\\xa0one\\xa0essential part of being a king\\xa0or leader\\xa0is the ability to dispense justice.\\xa0 That is what kings do\\xa0in the ancient world, and really that\\u2019s what good leadership is supposed to do to this day.\\xa0 Telemachus has not done that\\xa0up to this point; he\\xa0has not been able to do that in any way for various reasons- and the reasons are understandable.\\xa0\\xa0But\\xa0that\\xa0doesn\\u2019t matter.\\xa0\\xa0He has not administered his properties;\\xa0he is not administering justice in his realm of influence,\\xa0and so\\xa0Telemachus has no\\xa0authority\\xa0and his world has no harmony.\\xa0\\xa0Until he can figure that\\xa0piece\\xa0out, he\\xa0is not in\\xa0charge, he is not a king.\\xa0\\xa0And\\xa0so\\xa0the question the text brings up, is how can he do this?\\xa0 And\\xa0of course\\xa0the first step is that he must\\xa0realize it\\u2019s on him to do it.\\xa0 Telemachus is going to have to construct his own authority in the eyes of those suitors.\\xa0
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Well, that\\u2019s true,\\xa0and\\xa0honestly, he\\xa0has to\\xa0construct authority in the eyes of the reader of the text as well.\\xa0 WE\\xa0have to\\xa0decide he\\u2019s worthy, especially after we see everything that Odysseus is and has been.\\xa0 If Homer can convince us that Telemachus is worthy, then we can accept and even feel glee when we see what happens to the suitors at the end of the story.\\xa0\\xa0It will feel like a king dispensing justice and not just vengeance.\\xa0\\xa0That\\u2019s an important distinction.\\xa0 Justice is for everyone; vengeance is personal.\\xa0\\xa0And of course,\\xa0at no time either in book 1 or in book 2 are we convinced\\xa0that Telemachus is capable of\\xa0of\\xa0being a king.\\xa0 In book 2, he calls an assembly together of all the\\xa0Acheans.\\xa0 This is a big deal.\\xa0 No assembly has been called since Odysseus left twenty years before.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Everyone crowds around, the elders come in,\\xa0Telemachus\\xa0takes his father\\u2019s seat.\\xa0 Nine speeches are given by various people,\\xa0but\\xa0on first pass\\xa0nothing good comes out of\\xa0any of this.\\xa0\\xa0Telemachus\\xa0is filled with\\xa0anger,\\xa0he complains about what they have done but ultimately\\xa0he\\xa0dashes the speaker\\u2019s scepter and bursts into tears.\\xa0 None of that is great, but it IS a start.\\xa0 The text says that everyone felt pity, but what does that do.\\xa0 They\\xa0just sat there in silence.\\xa0 One of the suitors, Antinous,\\xa0speaks up and basically says, well, it\\u2019s really your mother\\u2019s fault.\\xa0 She won\\u2019t pick a new husband, but instead has tricked us.\\xa0 She told us she would marry someone when she finished making this\\xa0shroud for her father-in-law Laertes, but every day she weaved\\xa0it\\xa0and every night she\\xa0unraveled\\xa0her work, so that the shroud\\xa0was\\xa0never done.\\xa0\\xa0This went on for three years.\\xa0Antinous calls Penelope \\u201cmatchless queen of cunning\\u201d which is quite the backhanded compliment, but ultimately, he is taking the focus away from Telemachus.\\xa0 Telemachus\\xa0appears to be a\\xa0nothing here.\\xa0\\xa0On the other hand, and\\xa0let me ask this question, from a historical\\xa0perspective,\\xa0\\xa0I\\xa0never really have understood why\\xa0Penelope\\xa0had to get married.\\xa0\\xa0Why couldn\\u2019t she just be the queen?\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Well, I\\u2019m not totally sure, remember this culture\\xa0is mysterious.\\xa0 One idea might be\\xa0that\\xa0warring\\xa0and pirating\\xa0is\\xa0such a\\xa0key component of the\\xa0culture, so\\xa0as\\xa0not have a warrior as the head\\xa0would\\xa0leave a kingdom vulnerable\\xa0to invaders- that may be one idea.\\xa0\\xa0But,\\xa0I will say, just in general, that it\\u2019s important to understand that\\xa0every single character in this story is an aristocrat.\\xa0 These are not common people.\\xa0 They are rulers, and\\xa0in the world of\\xa0aristocrats, and this is not just in Greek culture, but\\xa0all\\xa0cultures to this day, if we\\u2019re honest,\\xa0people\\xa0put a lot of effort in planning and\\xa0selecting marriages.\\xa0\\xa0Social interchange between families creates links of union and interdependence that are the hallmark of the history of\\xa0humanity as a whole.\\xa0\\xa0So, in that sense, marriage is a political and economic game that can be won or lost.\\xa0 Men\\xa0compete- and this is no more obvious than with this actual game we will see being played by these suitors.\\xa0 I think it\\u2019s important to note that\\xa0all of\\xa0these suitors come from good\\xa0aristocratic\\xa0families.\\xa0 These are not\\xa0beggars or miscreants that are moving in on her.\\xa0 They are Greece\\u2019s\\xa0finest, so to speak, men who feel like they can compete\\xa0and deserve to be a king.\\xa0\\xa0What is a little difficult to understand here is who is\\xa0supposed to be\\xa0responsible\\xa0for the choice\\xa0of\\xa0Penelope\\u2019s next\\xa0husband, and we see different answers depending on who\\u2019s talking\\xa0here.\\xa0Athena tells Telemachus to send his mother back to her father and to let her father make this choice.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Antinous says something similar, but\\xa0if Antinous sends Penelope back,\\xa0the he\\u2019s\\xa0the one in charge, not Telemachus.\\xa0 If she goes back because\\xa0Antinous told her to,\\xa0basically\\xa0the suitors have\\xa0already\\xa0seized\\xa0authority over Penelope in making this decision\\xa0for her\\xa0and\\xa0taking it\\xa0away from Telemachus.\\xa0 What we can say for sure, is there is a power vacuum in Ithaca- Telemachus may have the position of leadership\\xa0because of his birthright, but he doesn\\u2019t\\xa0possess the\\xa0charisma or the moral authority\\xa0at this point\\xa0to exercise any leadership and be listened to.\\xa0 He is ignored and irrelevant.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
\\xa0
That is the point of his own Odyssey.\\xa0\\xa0And I think that\\u2019s the whole idea that people have intuitively understood.\\xa0\\xa0The first step in\\xa0manhood\\xa0and I\\u2019ll use the gendered language\\xa0of the Greeks, the first step\\xa0to\\xa0growing up is understanding that you\\xa0have to\\xa0do something and if you don\\u2019t- others will swoop in and make those decisions for you, but the\\xa0decisions others make\\xa0likely\\xa0will not be in your best interest.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Even if you start out\\xa0disadvantaged,\\xa0just as Telemachus is starting here,\\xa0there are things you can do to help yourself.\\xa0\\xa0For Telemachus,\\xa0that\\u2019s what he gets from listening\\xa0to the goddess Athena and discerning her words of wisdom.\\xa0\\xa0He gets up, calls an assembly, announces his plan.\\xa0\\xa0He heard Mentes and figured out that those were words he should be listening to- they were the\\xa0words of the goddess Athena.\\xa0\\xa0But after listening, he still\\xa0has\\xa0to\\xa0make a choice,\\xa0he\\xa0has to\\xa0actually pick up and do what Athena told him to.\\xa0\\xa0And he does.\\xa0\\xa0He goes to the storehouse, collects goods for the trip, he talks to his nanny and tells\\xa0her to not tell his mom for at least 10 maybe 12\\xa0days,\\xa0\\xa0and\\xa0he even faces down the suitors,\\xa0clearly establishing\\xa0to their faces that he views them as\\xa0enemies.\\xa0 He calls out the game.\\xa0\\xa0And let me further note, as soon as he starts\\xa0moving,\\xa0Athena\\xa0also engaged the world and pushed others to help\\xa0him.\\xa0 She also\\xa0drugs the suitors so he can get out\\xa0without being challenged.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Page 105\\xa0\\xa0
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\\xa0And off he goes\\xa0first in book 3 and then in book 4 to older wiser men- King Nestor at Pylos and then King Menelaus\\xa0at Sparta.\\xa0 One interesting little side-bar is that scholars really do not\\xa0agree\\xa0\\xa0as\\xa0to what he gets out of this trip\\xa0if anything.\\xa0 For sure, he doesn\\u2019t get what he sets out to get.\\xa0 He doesn\\u2019t find his father.\\xa0\\xa0They also don\\u2019t agree on how long he was gone.\\xa0\\xa0Homer\\xa0in a couple of places implies he\\u2019s only there a couple of days, but in other places, and if you match up Telemachus leaving Ithaca with Odysseus leasing Ogygia, he\\xa0would\\xa0need to have been gone about a month.\\xa0\\xa0
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\\xa0I think the month idea makes more sense\\xa0especially if you think about\\xa0the changes that occur in Telemachus while he\\u2019s gone.\\xa0
\\xa0
Well, I agree.\\xa0\\xa0Also\\xa0there\\u2019s that\\xa0detail that\\xa0the\\xa0nurse was told not to tell her for\\xa010-12 days, so that\\u2019s another hint, that\\xa0Homer understands and expects his audience to understand Telemachus\\xa0is\\xa0gone longer than a couple of days.\\xa0 Anyway, I\\u2019m not sure it matters a whole lot- the transformation is the transformation and the reunion on the other side will be the reunion on the other side.\\xa0\\xa0In Pylos, he meets Nestor\\u2019s son,\\xa0Peisistratus, who has\\xa0had a much more normal upbringing than Telemachus had.\\xa0Pylos is kind of the example of family that has gone right.\\xa0\\xa0Nestor, even in the\\xa0Iliad\\xa0is kind of portrayed as a wise counselor\\xa0who gives speeches and advice.\\xa0 Although it has been pointed out that at no time does Telemachus ask their opinion on what he should do.\\xa0 He seems to be interested just in learning about the past, who his father way, how things have worked.\\xa0
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And\\xa0he learns a lot about that.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Nestor\\xa0talks\\xa0\\xa0a\\xa0lot about what happened at Troy- things I didn\\u2019t know.\\xa0 He talks about Achilles and Patroclus, about Ajax, King Priam\\xa0and the role Odysseus played in the war.\\xa0\\xa0He also tells\\xa0Telemachus about his own journey home, and\\xa0we revisit\\xa0again\\xa0this story about\\xa0Agamemnon being murdered by\\xa0his friend and\\xa0Orestes murdering his father\\u2019s\\xa0murderer as well as his own mother.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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To which I notice Telemachus said, \\u201cIf only the gods would arm me in such\\xa0power\\xa0I\\u2019d take revenge on the lawless, brazen suitors.\\u201d\\xa0 Basically, saying, I wish I were like that guy.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0It\\u2019s\\xa0very obvious\\xa0that Telemachus doesn\\u2019t know how to act in this world and that is exactly why Athena sent\\xa0him\\xa0out.\\xa0 Ithaca is not the world of Pylos or Sparta.\\xa0 In fact, it\\u2019s very different, but there are things to learn.\\xa0 He learns by listening to how other men act and how\\xa0he they interact with each other.\\xa0 He learns how to conduct himself religiously, too.\\xa0 How do I stay out of trouble with the\\xa0gods.\\xa0 The day\\xa0after the big banquet Nestor throws, Nestor\\xa0sends\\xa0his youngest daughter\\xa0Polyoaste\\xa0to give Telemachus a bath.\\xa0\\xa0There are those who suggest this\\xa0detail of the\\xa0bath is\\xa0designed to express some sort\\xa0of a\\xa0baptism, if\\xa0you want to see it that way.\\xa0\\xa0Telemachus\\xa0emerges and I quote, \\u201clooking like a god\\u201d.\\xa0\\xa0I don\\u2019t know if that\\u2019s a stretch- sometimes literary people can stretch stuff.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Maybe a bath is just a bath,\\xa0
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yes\\xa0or maybe it IS a baptism.\\xa0 Who\\xa0knows.\\xa0\\xa0What we do know for sure is that Nestor sees something great in Telemachus, something the suitors haven\\u2019t seen.\\xa0 Nestor sees leadership, something, we as readers haven\\u2019t seen either\\xa0and Telemachus responds to this.\\xa0\\xa0Nestor gives him horses, a chariot and\\xa0sends him off\\xa0with his own son\\xa0to Sparta.\\xa0 In Sparta,\\xa0we are going to assume\\xa0he stays for about a\\xa0month, he\\xa0will see and experience the life of\\xa0the most successful man in Greece, Menelaus, husband to Queen\\xa0Helen, the\\xa0woman\\xa0who started the Trojan war.\\xa0\\xa0Telemachus is overwhelmed by the amazing opulence of this environment.\\xa0 He\\u2019s never seen anything like this before.\\xa0\\xa0In terms of wealth, this is the\\xa0ultimate.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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The main takeaway\\xa0from my perspective for Telemachus is comparing how Menelaus conducts affairs successfully\\xa0and we can compare this to how things are going in Ithaca.\\xa0 If we think about the last conversation Telemachus had about his mother not getting married, how interesting that we see Menelaus conducting not one but two marriages- and not even his child through his wife.\\xa0\\xa0Menelaus is creating that most political of arrangements- marriages- two\\xa0of\\xa0them.\\xa0 WE can already see that Telemachus is less awkward\\xa0meeting Menelaus\\xa0than he was\\xa0meeting\\xa0Nestor, even though this stage is even bigger.\\xa0 He\\u2019s\\xa0speaking is more controlled\\xa0and more confident to the point that\\xa0when Menelaus\\xa0offers him three horses,\\xa0and\\xa0he\\xa0actually\\xa0declines\\xa0because horses are impractical in Ithaca.\\xa0\\xa0In other words,\\xa0this version of Telemachus\\xa0can engage\\xa0a great man like\\xa0Menelaus\\xa0as\\xa0an equal.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Or man to man- to use a gendered expression-\\xa0and\\xa0this really impresses Menelaus.\\xa0 WE don\\u2019t know what all happens\\xa0in Sparta really.\\xa0 We do get to hear Helen\\u2019s side of the Trojan war story,\\xa0which I found\\xa0really interesting, but we don\\u2019t really have time to get into that- suffice it to say, it\\u2019s not her fault.\\xa0\\xa0The main takeaway\\xa0is that by the time Telemachus leaves\\xa0Menelaus\\xa0which isn\\u2019t until book 15, he\\u2019s ready\\xa0to go home.\\xa0 The\\xa0Telamachy\\xa0won\\u2019t pick up again until book 15 when Athena sends him home.\\xa0 But by\\xa0book 15, Telemachus is aware of his\\xa0responsibilities,\\xa0and\\xa0we\\xa0see this\\xa0new\\xa0Telemachus-\\xa0Telemachus 2.0 as a man of action.\\xa0 I know it\\u2019s getting a head in the story if we look by chapters, but by book 15, Telemachus is going to\\xa0offer\\xa0political asylum\\xa0to a wanted murderer\\xa0in Ithaca.\\xa0 This is stepping out in the realm of administering justice.\\xa0 The\\xa0man\\u2019s\\xa0name is\\xa0Theoclymenus.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Theoclymenus\\xa0is a prophet and\\xa0interprets for Telemachus and omen of a hawk who is appearing on the right\\xa0with a dove in its talons.\\xa0 He correctly predicts that \\u201cno family in Ithaca\\xa0is kinglier than yours; you will have power forever.\\u201d\\xa0 That\\u2019s always a nice thing to say.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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And so, there we go, now Telemachus is set up for the confrontation, now we just need to get Odysseus home.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
\\xa0
Yes- and that is what books 5-8 are about as well.\\xa0\\xa0Odysseus\\xa0also must find\\xa0his way to those sandy shores- but before he does, he\\u2019s going to tell the King who will take him how he ever got himself in the mess he did.\\xa0\\xa0And next\\xa0episode, we\\u2019ll\\xa0listen in and find out why you should never expect\\xa0a Christmas party invite\\xa0from a cyclops.\\xa0 There\\u2019s the tip for the day.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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Ha!\\xa0\\xa0Well, I\\u2019ll keep my hopes down on that score.\\xa0 Thank you for listening.\\xa0 If you are enjoying this series on Homer and the Odyssey, please remember to give us a rating on your podcast ap.\\xa0\\xa0And of course, share an episode with a friend.\\xa0 Also, don\\u2019t hesitate to connect with us via email, our website\\xa0www.howtolovelitpodcast.com, Instagram,\\xa0Facebook, linked in or any other social media ap you use.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0And if you are listening to this in real time, we hope you are getting off to a great start in this year 2022.\\xa0
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