InGreek mythology,Telemachus (/təˈlɛməkəs/ⓘtə-LEM-ə-kəs;Ancient Greek:Τηλέμαχος,romanized: Tēlemakhos,lit. 'far-fighter') is the son ofOdysseus andPenelope, who are central characters inHomer'sOdyssey. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visitedPylos andSparta in search of his wandering father. On his return toIthaca, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him. Then father and son slay thesuitors who had gathered around Penelope. According to later tradition, Telemachus marriedCirce after Odysseus's death.
The first four books of theOdyssey focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father, who has yet to return home from theTrojan War, and are traditionally given the titleTelemachy.[1]
Slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus,Campanian red-figure bell-krater, ca. 330 BC,Louvre (CA 7124)
In Homer'sOdyssey, Telemachus, under the instructions ofAthena (who accompanies him during the quest), spends the first four books trying to gain knowledge of his father, Odysseus, who left for Troy when Telemachus was still an infant. At the outset of Telemachus's journey, Odysseus had been absent from his home atIthaca for twenty years due to the Trojan War and the intervention ofPoseidon. During his absence, Odysseus's house has been occupied by hordes ofsuitors seeking the hand of Penelope.[3] Telemachus first visitsNestor and is well received by the old man who regales him with stories of his father's glory. Telemachus then departs with Nestor's sonPeisistratus,[4] who accompanies him to the halls ofMenelaus and his wifeHelen. Whilst there, Telemachus is again treated as an honored guest as Menelaus and Helen tell complementary yet contradictory stories of his father's exploits at Troy. Telemachus also learns from Menelaus that his father was last seen stranded onOgygia.[5]
Telemachus focuses on his father'sreturn to Ithaca in Book XV. He visitsEumaeus, the swineherd, who happens to be hosting a disguised Odysseus. After Odysseus reveals himself to Telemachus due to Athena's advice, the two men plan the downfall of the suitors. Telemachus then returns to the palace to keep an eye on the suitors and to await his father as the beggar.[6]
When Penelope challenges the suitors to string Odysseus's bow and shoot an arrow through the handle-holes of twelve axe heads, Telemachus is the first to attempt the task. He would have completed the task, nearly stringing the bow on his fourth attempt; however, Odysseus subtly stops him before he can finish his attempt. Following the suitors' failure at this task, Odysseus reveals himself and he and Telemachus bring swift and bloody death to the suitors.[7]
TheTelegony was a short two-book epic poem recounting the life and death of Odysseus after the events of theOdyssey. In this mythological postscript, Odysseus is accidentally killed byTelegonus, his unknown son by the goddessCirce. After Odysseus's death, Telemachus returns toAeaea with Telegonus and Penelope, and there marries Circe.
Seemingly later tradition included the character ofCassiphone—the daughter of Odysseus and Circe, and therefore half-sister of Telemachus—into the narrative. In this account, Telemachus still marries Circe, but Odysseus is resurrected by Circe at some point.
From theDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: In the post-Homeric traditions, we read that Palamedes, when endeavouring to persuade Odysseus to join the Greeks against Troy, and the latter feigned idiocy, placed the infant Telemachus before the plough with which Odysseus was ploughing.[8]
InContest of Homer and Hesiod, it is alleged that the Roman EmperorHadrian asked theDelphic Oracle about Homer's birthplace and parentage. The Oracle replied that Homer came from Ithaca and that Telemachus was his father byEpicasta, daughter of Nestor.[9][10]
Eustathius says that the mother wasPolycaste, the daughter ofNestor.[12] Others relate that he became the father ofLatinus by Circe.[13] He is also said to have had a daughter called Roma, who marriedAeneas.[14]
Servius makes Telemachus the founder of the town ofClusium in Etruria.[15][16]
Telemachus appears in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 1833 poem "Ulysses", where the title speaker (based on Dante's version) hands over his throne to him to spend the rest of his life wandering.
Telemachus is a frequent character in the poetry ofLouise Glück.[18]
Telemachus was the name ofCarole King's cat and is pictured on the cover of her albumTapestry.[19]
"Telemachus" is the title of a poem by American poetOcean Vuong.[20]
Telemachus is featured in a musical adaptation of theOdyssey entitledEpic: The Musical.
Brann, Eva,Homeric Moments: Clues to Delight in Reading the Odyssey and the Iliad, Paul Dry Books, 2002.ISBN9781589882805.
Homer,The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
