Telemachus

Telemachus was the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and the young prince of Ithaca in Greek mythology. He is best known from Homer’s Odyssey, where his search for news of his missing father forms the opening part of the poem. At first Telemachus is unsure of himself and powerless against the suitors who have taken over his father’s palace. With Athena’s help he begins to act as the true heir of Odysseus, sets out on a journey of his own and later fights beside his father to reclaim their home.

Who Was Telemachus?

Family and Background

Telemachus was the only son of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and Penelope, daughter of Icarius (Homer, Odyssey 11.446). When Odysseus left for Troy his son was still a baby at the breast, as Agamemnon’s ghost recalls in the underworld (Odyssey 11.447–449). In the later summary of the Trojan War story, Odysseus pretended to be mad so that he would not have to sail, and Palamedes tested him by snatching the infant Telemachus from Penelope’s arms and threatening him with a sword; Odysseus gave up the pretence to save the child (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.7). His father’s parents were Laertes and Anticleia, the daughter of Autolycus (Odyssey 11.85).

When the Odyssey begins Odysseus has been away for twenty years (Odyssey 16.206), so Telemachus is a young man. Homer never gives his age as a number. The poem also shows his doubt about his own origin: “My mother says I am his son, but I do not know; no one ever knows his own begetting” (Odyssey 1.215–216).

Name and Meaning

The name Telemachus is formed from Greek words meaning “far” and “battle”, and is usually translated “far from battle” or “fighting from afar”. Homer’s epithets for him include “godlike” and “the sacred might of Telemachus” (Odyssey 1.113, 21.101). Unlike his father, he does not first appear as a warrior. His early trouble is not a battlefield but a house full of arrogant men who eat his wealth, insult his family and press Penelope to choose a new husband.

Telemachus in the Odyssey

A Young Prince in a Broken House

At the start of the Odyssey Telemachus sits among the suitors in his father’s hall, sad at heart and imagining his father coming home to drive them out (Odyssey 1.113–117). The suitors court his mother and feast every day at Odysseus’ expense. Telemachus resents them but lacks the power and the standing to remove them.

Athena’s Visit

Athena plays a key role in his growth. Disguised first as Mentes, chief of the Taphians, she visits him and urges him to call an assembly, speak against the suitors, and sail to Pylos and Sparta to ask for news of Odysseus (Odyssey 1.105, 1.269–285). Telemachus is the first to see the stranger at the door and receives him with proper hospitality (Odyssey 1.113–127). Later she takes the shape of Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus, and helps him prepare the voyage (Odyssey 2.267–268).

The Assembly of Ithaca

At dawn Telemachus has the heralds call the Achaeans of Ithaca to an assembly, takes his father’s seat, and publicly denounces the suitors (Odyssey 2.1–14). No assembly had met on the island since Odysseus sailed (Odyssey 2.26–27). He cannot yet defeat the suitors by force, but he has found his voice, and the old seer Halitherses warns the suitors that Odysseus will return and bring them death (Odyssey 2.161–165). When the assembly ends Telemachus asks his old nurse Eurycleia to prepare provisions and to say nothing to Penelope for eleven or twelve days (Odyssey 2.349–376).

The Journey of Telemachus

Telemachus at Pylos

With Athena’s guidance Telemachus leaves Ithaca at night and sails to Pylos, where he visits the old king Nestor. Nestor welcomes him with a feast, tells him about the return of the Greek leaders after the Trojan War, and sends him on to Sparta by chariot with his own son Pisistratus (Odyssey 3.31–37, 3.474–485). While he is in Pylos, Nestor’s youngest daughter Polycaste bathes him (Odyssey 3.464–468).

Telemachus at Sparta

Telemachus and Pisistratus travel to the court of Menelaus and Helen in Sparta. There he hears more stories about Odysseus, and Menelaus tells him what he learned from the sea god Proteus: Odysseus is alive, held against his will on the island of the nymph Calypso, without ship or companions to bring him home (Odyssey 4.555–560). When he leaves, Helen gives him a robe she made with her own hands, to be worn by his future bride (Odyssey 15.125–129).

The Suitors’ Ambush

While Telemachus is away, the suitors learn that he has gone and send out a ship to kill him on his return, lying in wait in the strait between Ithaca and Same, at the small island of Asteris (Odyssey 4.842–847). In Sparta Athena warns him to go home, to sail by night and to keep far from the islands (Odyssey 15.28–42). He lands safely on the coast of Ithaca at dawn (Odyssey 15.495–500) and, as Athena advised, goes first to the swineherd Eumaeus.

Telemachus and Odysseus

The Reunion at Eumaeus’ Hut

At the hut Telemachus finds Odysseus, who has been changed by Athena into an old beggar. He does not recognize him until Athena lets Odysseus reveal himself, and Odysseus tells him, “I am your father”; Telemachus at first refuses to believe it (Odyssey 16.187–219). Father and son weep together after twenty years apart.

The Plan Against the Suitors

Odysseus and Telemachus plan the revenge. Telemachus is to return to the palace and behave as if nothing has changed, while Odysseus follows in disguise. When Odysseus nods, Telemachus is to carry the weapons hanging in the hall into an inner room, leaving only two swords, two spears and two shields for themselves (Odyssey 16.281–298). They carry out the plan together the next night (Odyssey 19.1–34).

The Bow of Odysseus

Penelope sets a contest for the suitors: whoever can string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through the holes of twelve axe heads will win her hand (Odyssey 21.1–79). Telemachus is the first to try. He sets up the axes, and three times he strains to bend the bow; on the fourth try he would have strung it, but Odysseus makes a sign to him to stop (Odyssey 21.101–129).

The Slaying of the Suitors

When Odysseus reveals himself and begins to shoot, Telemachus fights beside him with the herdsmen Eumaeus and Philoetius, who arm themselves and stand around Odysseus (Odyssey 22.114–115). Telemachus kills Amphinomus, striking him from behind with his spear between the shoulders (Odyssey 22.89–98) and fetches shields, spears and helmets from the storeroom (Odyssey 22.108–115). When the fighting is over Odysseus orders that the maidservants who had slept with the suitors be put to the sword; Telemachus refuses them “a clean death” and hangs them instead (Odyssey 22.440–445, 22.457–473). Afterwards he goes with Odysseus to the farm of Laertes, and when the relatives of the dead suitors march against them Odysseus tells his son not to shame the line of his fathers, and Telemachus answers that he will see for himself that he does not (Odyssey 24.505–512). Athena ends the fighting and peace is made.

Telemachus’ Role and Symbolism

A Coming-of-Age Figure

Telemachus grows during the poem from a passive young man into an active heir. He calls the assembly, leaves home, listens to older kings, escapes an ambush, and takes his place beside his father. On the way to the last fight Odysseus tells him he will now learn what battle is, where the best men are decided, and must not shame the line of his fathers (Odyssey 24.506–509).

The Son of Odysseus

Telemachus is the only heir of his house. As he tells Eumaeus, Zeus made their line one of single sons: Arceisius had only Laertes, Laertes only Odysseus, and Odysseus left only Telemachus in his halls (Odyssey 16.117–120). That is why the suitors’ plot against his life threatens the whole family of Odysseus.

Hospitality and Order

The poem contrasts Telemachus with the suitors in how they treat guests. When Athena arrives in disguise as Mentes, Telemachus rises, takes her spear and sets food before her; the suitors consume the household’s goods, and Antinous throws a footstool at the beggar who comes to the hall (Odyssey 1.119–124, 17.462–464).

Later Myths About Telemachus

After the Odyssey

The Odyssey ends with peace restored in Ithaca, but later poets continued the story. In the lost epic Telegony, Odysseus is killed by Telegonus, his son by Circe. Telegonus then brings the body of Odysseus, together with Penelope and Telemachus, to Circe’s island, where Circe makes them immortal (Proclus’ summary of the Telegony; compare Apollodorus, Epitome 7.36–37).

Marriage Traditions

No single tradition names Telemachus’ wife. In the Telegony and in a poem called the Returns, Telemachus marries Circe while Telegonus marries Penelope (Proclus’ summary of the Telegony; Eustathius quoting the Returns). In the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, Nestor’s youngest daughter Polycaste, who had bathed him in Pylos, bore him a son, Persepolis (Hesiod fragment quoted by Eustathius). Hellanicus gave him Nausicaa as wife and made her the mother of Perseptolis (Hellanicus, fragment 141). According to Lycophron, Telemachus married Circe and was killed by Cassiphone, the daughter of Odysseus and Circe (Lycophron, Alexandra 808–811, with the ancient commentary).

Misconceptions and Lesser-Known Facts

Telemachus Was Not a Small Child in the Odyssey

A common mistake is to imagine Telemachus as a child during the events of the Odyssey. Since Odysseus has been gone for twenty years, Telemachus is a young man. His problem is not age alone but lack of authority, experience and support.

The Telemachy

The first four books of the Odyssey are called the Telemachy, because they follow Telemachus rather than Odysseus. They show what has happened to Odysseus’ house in his absence before the hero himself appears in Book 5.

Telemachus Did Not Defeat the Suitors Alone

Telemachus plays a brave part in the revenge on the suitors, but the victory is won by Odysseus, with Telemachus, Eumaeus and Philoetius at his side and Athena helping them.

Telemachus Sources

Telemachus appears most fully in Homer’s Odyssey, especially Books 1–4, 15–16 and 21–22, with Books 11, 17, 19 and 24 for his infancy, the beggar in the hall, the removal of the weapons and the last fight. Later material comes from the Epic Cycle (Proclus’ summary of the Telegony; fragments of the Returns and of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, both preserved in Eustathius), Apollodorus’ Epitome 3.7 and 7.36–37, Hellanicus (fragment 141) and Lycophron’s Alexandra 808–811 with its ancient commentary.

See Also: Odysseus, Penelope, Trojan War, Ithaca, Eumaeus, Circe, Athena