Telemachus departing from Nestor, painting by Henry Howard (1769–1847)
- This article is about the figure in greek mythology. For the Christian saint, see Saint Telemachus, and for the South African cricketer, see Roger Telemachus.
Telemachus (also transliterated as Telemachos or Telémakhos; literally, "far-away fighter")[1] is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope. He is a central character in Homer's Odyssey. The first four books in particular focus on Telemachus' journeys in search of news about his father. Hence, these opening books together are traditionally called the Telemachy.
He was born on the day when Odysseus was called to fight in the Trojan War. Attempting to renege on his oath to defend Helen, Odysseus sowed salt into his fields in feigned madness. The emissary Palamedes, who was sent to call Odysseus to battle, placed the infant Telemachus before the plow. Odysseus stopped, proving his sanity and obliging himself to go to the war.
In the Odyssey
After his father has been gone for nearly 20 years, young Telemachus is met by Athena, who takes the male disguise of Mentor and accompanies him on a journey in search of news of his father. They travel to Pylos and Sparta. Their rulers, Nestor and Menelaus, are friendly, having held Odysseus in high regard, but do not know what has become of him. Telemachus forms a close friendship and implied intimate relationship with Nestor's son Peisistratus, who accompanies him on the search for his father. However, the two are only able to find out that Odysseus is being held captive by Calypso. When Telemachus returns to Ithaca, Athena in another disguise prompts him to visit the swineherd Eumaeus, instead of returning to his home. At the pigkeeper's cottage he discovers that a beggar staying with Eumaeus is his father, recently returned from Calypso's island. He helps his father plan and carry out the killing of Penelope's suitors and the servants who conspired with them.
It is universally held in Homeric scholarship that the Telemachy depicts Telemachus' necessary transition from boyhood to manhood. Thus, while the boy Telemachus in Book 1 demands but cannot force the departure of Penelope's suitors, in Books 19 and 22 the young man Telemachus is able to help his father plan and carry out his revenge on the suitors.
In the Telegony
The Telegony was a short 2-book epic poem recounting the life and death of Odysseus after the events of the Odyssey. In this mythological postscript, Odysseus is murdered by Telegonus, his unknown son by the goddess Circe. After Odysseus' death Telemachus returns to Aeaea with Telegonus and Penelope, and there marries Circe.
In later classical authors
- In The Contest of Homer and Hesiod, it is alleged that the Roman Emperor Hadrian asked the Delphic Oracle about Homer's birthplace and parentage. The Oracle replied that Homer came from Ithaca, and that Telemachus was his father by Epicasta, daughter of Nestor. [1]
Other appearances
- In the French-Japanese anime Ulysse 31, which adapts Homer's Odyssey in a futuristic setting, Telemachus appears as a 12 year old boy, son of Ulysses. He is always followed by his robot-friend Nono and an alien girl called Themis (renamed Yumi in the English dub).
Notes
- ^ So named because his father Odysseus was a famously skilled archer.
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