Telemachus
The son who grows from uncertain youth into an heir capable of standing beside his father at the end of the poem.
Telemachus in the Odyssey
Telemachus was a baby when Odysseus left for Troy. When the Odyssey opens he is about twenty, powerless in his own house while the suitors feast on his inheritance. The first four books, known as the Telemachy, belong to him.
Urged on by Athena, he calls an assembly in Ithaca, then sails to Pylos and Sparta to ask Nestor and Menelaus for news of his father. He returns as a young man ready to act: he recognizes Odysseus in the swineherd's hut and fights at his side against the suitors.
Key moments
- Books 1–2
Athena, disguised as Mentes, tells him to seek news of his father; he confronts the suitors in the Ithacan assembly.
- Books 3–4
At Pylos and Sparta he learns from Nestor and Menelaus that Odysseus is alive, held on Calypso's island.
- Book 16
In Eumaeus' hut, father and son recognize each other and plan the revenge together.
Relationship to Odysseus
Telemachus inherits his father's absence before he inherits his kingdom, and his search restores Odysseus as both father and king.
Where this figure enters the journey
His chapter unfolds in Ithaca, where he learns to defend the palace before Odysseus reaches its shores again.
Open the map locationIthaca