A glimpse of what might be termed "Homeric adolescence."
Dale P. Woodiel
Conard
High School
West
Hartford, CT
In the
final scene of Book 1 of Homer's Odyssey we find Odysseus' son
Telemakhos being "put to bed" by his old nurse Eurykleia who has
watched over him, like his father before him, since his infancy. She accompanies
him to his sleeping quarters, essentially to "tuck him in": she folds
his tunic, turns out the torch, so to speak, and secures the door (1.425 ff.).
Recently,
a curious but literal-minded fourteen-year-old in one of my classes inquired
whether Telemakhos was not a bit old for that sort of treatment. He pointed
out that if, in fact, Odysseus had been gone for almost twenty years, his son
would have to be at least approaching twenty, even if he had been born after
Odysseus had rushed off to Troy! The question evoked a lively discussion.
From the
appeal to the Muse in the opening lines of the poem we know that Odysseus will
return, and we expect the action of the poem to lead up to that climactic
moment. However, Zeus has hardly agreed to Athene's appeal to bring Odysseus
home and Hermes has been dispatched to Calypso's island with orders for
Odysseus' release when Athene makes clear her plans to venture to Ithaka to
attend to Odysseus' no-longer-young son Telemakhos. Although the spirit of
Odysseus pervades the opening books of the Odyssey, the poem focuses
for the moment on the growth and development of his abandoned son Telemakhos,
no longer a child, but still unprepared to assume the role held by his famous
father.
Athene's
mission in Ithaka, she says, will be "to stir up (Telemakhos) a little,
and put some confidence in him" (1.189) to oppose the suitors. Afterward
she will accompany
him to Pylos and Sparta in search of news of his father's homecoming. Why?
"So that among people he may win a good reputation" (1. 95), in a
word: kleos. 2
Charles
Segal, in a discussion of kleos in the Odyssey, has observed that in the "shame-culture"
of Homeric society, "esteem depends almost solely on how one is viewed
and talked of by one's peers. Kleos is fundamental as a measure of
one's value to others and to oneself,3 a value that is repeatedly reenforced in
the interactions between Telemakhos and every major figure he encounters on his
journey.
Clearly, the Telemakhos of Book I who is accompanied to his
sleeping quarters by Eurykleia is not meant to be perceived as the Telemakhos
who will appear to his father at the hut of the swineherd Eumaios in Book 26.
His journey to Pylos and Sparta, accompanied by Athene/Mentor, constitutes his
rite of passage to the adult world, his education, so to speak. An analysis of
the Telemachy provides a glimpse - vague and confused as it might be - of
what might be termed "Homeric adolescence."
Although at this point Telemakhos is
nearing the age of twenty, his reputation is that of an insecure child
essentially bullied by the adult suitors. His journey to maturity is,
therefore, abnormal, at least in its timing. Although Athene clearly desires to
assist Telemakhos in literally gaining "a good report among men," his kleos
will not be won in
battle (even if one includes the assist he provides in the slaughter of the
suitors), nor will it be won (as in the case of his father Odysseus) in an encounter
as a youth with a wild beast, the result of which allowed the shedding of blood
and the bestowal of a marvelous tale-telling scar (19.427 tt). His education
will, however, be largely carried out in the company of Nestor's son Peisistratos,
a considerably more mature youth of approximately Telemakhos' age.
John
Finley, in his book on the Odyssey, comments on what he sees as Homer's
tendency to cast a "sparkling gaze toward the young."4 Certainly,
this is born out in the way the poem repeatedly focuses on the maturation of
youth, not only Telemakhos and Peisistratos, who befriends Telemakhos during
his visit to Pylos, but also Nausikaa, the daughter of Queen Arete and King
Alkinoos, who befriends Odysseus when he reaches the land of the Phaiakians.
The action of the Telemachy begins with the appearance
of Athene, disguised as Mentes, to Telemakhos in Book 1. Athene will initiate
Telemakhos' first confrontation of the suitors, subsequently direct his journey
to Pylos and Spana, and support his safe return where he is reunited with his
long-absent and, to him. unknown father.
Crash course though it is, under the tutelage of Athene
Telemakhos' journey constitutes a mini-version of the journey of Odysseus. Like his father, Telema-
khos will see,
if not great cities, at least two great households, and he will learn much from
the minds of those he meets. More significantly, he is exposed to a civilized
world of sophistication and culture that differs markedly from the world he has
known, characterized by the barbaric antics of the suitors.
When Athene
appears to Telemakbos in Book I she finds him in the midst of what can only be
called a dysfunctional household, absent of a father for decades, long abandoned
by the elder grandfather Laertes, and filled daily (and one assumes nightly as
well) with over one hundred boisterous males bent on partying and consuming
the household's resources. Although Telemakhos is moping in their midst, his
thoughts on the return of his father, when he recognizes the stranger at the
door, his "right instincts" kick in. He has not forgotten his
manners. Although embarrassed by the atmosphere in the hall, he welcomes the
stranger, finds him a chair aside from the major activity, and offers him food
(113 ff).
Claiming
guest-friendship with Odysseus for years, Athene/Mentes immediately reminds
Telemakhos of the renowned reputation of his father and comments on their
physical resemblance: "Big as you are," she observes, "you are
strangely like about the head, the fine eyes, as I remember. . ." (205-7).
Assuming his father Odysseus now dead
or disappeared, Telemakhos regrets the loss of kleos which would have
come to him had Odysseus "gone down among his companions in the land of
the Trojans" (236), for had he done so, "he would have won great fame
for himself and his son hereafter" (239-40).
Athene assures Telemakhos that he will not "go nameless
hereafter" (223-24) and urges him instead to accept her advice and
assistance in devising a plan to rid the household of the suitors. "Come
now," she says to him, "pay close attention to me and do as I tell
you . . . I will counsel you shrewdly, and hope you will listen" (271 ff).
She then outlines the plans for their journey, specifies
that he will be expected to assist at least in the killing of the suitors, and
concludes with the blunt pronouncement that it is time to grow up! "You
should not." she admonishes, "go on clinging to your childhood. You
are no longer of an age to do that." (296-97).
Clearly there is glory in such violent, revengeful action for
Homeric youth if it is designed to restore a kind of order in the household.
Once again the heroic paradigm is the action of Orestes in revenging the murder
of his father Agamemnon. Telemakhos' final response at Athene's departure is
noteworthy: "My guest," he says, "your words to me are very kind
and considerate, what any father would say to his son. I shall not forget
them" (307-8). When Athene vanishes and Telemakhos returns, as he does, to
the suitors, he is now described as "a god-like man" (324).
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| NECN&J Feb. 1995 |
However,
Telemakbos' confidence is short-lived. Although his initial confrontations of
the suitors cause them to bite their lips in amazement at his daring new manner
(381), they are not completely cowered. Antinoos,
the most vocal of the group, senses that the gods have prompted Telemakhos
"to speak so daringly" to them (385); he recognizes that Telemakhos
bas the right to inherit the kingship of Ithaka, but he hopes Zeus will not see
fit to make him so. Telemakhos' reply makes clear his newly-acquired feeling
that he should be the absolute lord over his own household and servants "whom
the great Odysseus won by force" (397-98).
Then, in response to Eurymakhos' inquiry about the stranger
who has just visited, Telemakhos lies regarding the identity of Athene and,
accompanied by Eurykleia, turns in for what John Finley has termed his final
night of rest in "the beautiful security of boyhood." His rite of
passage from childhood to manhood -his education- has been set in motion, as
he falls to sleep "ponder[ing] in his heart the journey that Pallas Athene
had counseled" (443-4).
The change in Telemakhos will not be miraculous, however;
there will be relapses to the behavior of adolescence, losses of courage which
will require repeated assistance from Athene. At the assembly on the following
morning, he bursts into tears and dashes the scepter to the ground, aware of
his weakness in the face of the suitors. He vows he will call upon Zeus
"to grant a reversal of [the suitors'] fortunes" (2.144) if they did
not leave voluntarily, and he is given some encouragement when the vow is
dramatically punctuated by the appearance of two eagles who swoop over the
heads of the assembly and tear at each other throats before speeding away, an action that is
interpreted as an ominous warning that, in fact, Odysseus is alive and close by
(163-64).
The major
contrasts that exist between the world in Ithaka and the worlds Telemakhos
encounters in Pylos and Sparta can perhaps be best illustrated in the attention
given in these scenes to two pillars of appropriate behavior in civilized
Homeric society: the proper treatment of guests and the attention given to
religious sacrifice. As we saw in the scene of Athene's initial
appearance (and we shall certainly see after Odysseus' return), the proper
treatment of guests has almost, but not entirely, vanished from the Ithakan
household. Likewise, along with civil behavior, the religious ritual of the
sacrifice has disappeared. In fact, Athene comments on the "disgraceful
behavior" within the household (1.229). In contrast, upon his arrival in
Pylos Telemakhos finds Nestor, his sons and their companions, engaged in an
elaborate sacrifice to Poseidon, in which he and Athene/Mentor are invited to
participate. Nestor's son Peisistratos carefully explains the purpose of the
sacrifice to the visitors, after which he offers the wine cup first to the
elder Mentor, requesting that he then pass it to the younger Telemakhos.
"I think," says Peisistratos, "he [Telemakhos) also will make
his prayer to the immortals . All men
need the gods" (3.47-48). Athene is described as "happy at the
thoughtfulness” (3. 52) - and one assumes the maturity as well-reflected in
this gesture. Where could Telemakhos find a better role model? When
Athene/Mentor leaves the scene, Nestor realizes her identity and, more
importantly, the significance of the fact that she is guiding Telemakhos. He
vows then to make to Athene a special sacrifice of a yearling cow and to open
the special wine to accompany it. There follows perhaps in all of Homer the
most detailed description of such a sacrifice, one that might be called a
textbook illustration.
When
Telemakhos and the young Peisistratos arrive together at the home of Menelaos
and Helen in Sparta, they find a double wedding celebration in progress. 6 Both
Menelaos' son and daughter are being married. Upon their arrival, Telemakhos
and Peisistratos are acknowledged by Menelaos' henchman Eteoneus who goes to
his master and quietly informs him of the arrival of two men, and requests
whether he should unharness their horses or [one assumes, in view of the
festivities] "send them on to somebody else, who can entertain them"
(4.28-29). Menelaos, "deeply vexed" by his servant's question,
accuses him of babbling nonsense like a fool, and orders him to unharness the
strangers' horses immediately and to bring the men to the feast.
Apart from the
proper treatment of guests and gods, however, there are also certain social
amenities which must be acquired on this journey, what might be considered
simply good manners or courtesies: knowing how to behave, knowing what to say and
knowing how and when to say it. Words and their proper use solicit respect and
equal power in the Homeric society.
From his first encounter with Nestor it is obvious
Telemakhos lacks the verbal and social sophistication of Peisistratos. Yet, we
sense already that he is a fast learner. To the suitor Antinoos he has made
clear that he has put his childhood behind him. Now, he says, he has
"grown big" and more powerful and will eventually "learn the
truth" by "listening to others" (2.314-15).
When he steps ashore on Pylos, however, he appeals to
Athene for help because he is afraid to speak "up close" to the elder
Nestor. Athene, like the good coach, urges him simply to do his best, and
assures him one way or another that he will have the words required to say what
he needs to say. "Some of it," she says, "you yourself will see
in your own heart, and some the divinity will put in your mind" (3.26-28).
And, of course, with help from Athene he is able to impress the elder Nestor
with his words, as he later impresses Menelaos with his refusal of his gift of
horses and a chariot (4.600 ff).
It is
important to remember that, apart from the attention to civilized behavior and
attention to niceties, the Homeric adult, unlike the child, must be able and
willing to kill, and it should be noted that when Telemakhos returns to Ithaka
from his journey abroad, he is prepared to join his father in doing the work required,
viz. engaging in a massive slaughter of 108 suitors who have not been behaving
properly. At the poem's end, one senses that Telemakhos is capable of assuming
the responsibilities of his famous father. The climactic slaughter, in this
respect, reflects his "proper" education.
However, there
are elements of Telemakhos' education that are, atypical, even ambiguous. They
clearly have as their goal the acquisition of a good
reputation
in the eyes of others; and they clearly include the development of the
characteristic willingness to kill; but they also involve the acquisition of
behaviors that reflect sensitivity and good manners - style and conduct - which
are to be gained through social encounters with the "right" people.
In this respect, they bear striking resemblance to the clearly didactic works
of ancient wisdom literature in which, typically, an eldest son is instructed
in the skills and responsibilities necessary to assume his father's estate.
Segal has suggested that in the Odyssey even the
treatment of Odysseus' kleos in the poem is "ambiguous" and
might well reflect a time when the heroic ideal was being redefined. Perhaps,
Segal suggests, the poet is using "traditional elements" in "new
ways" reflecting a style in which "non-heroic values and fresh
social, ethical, and aesthetic currents make themselves felt."7
This
sense of ambiguity is, in fact, echoed in Odysseus' final lines in Book 24 where, in that great scene of
three-generational male bonding, Telemakhos fights side by side with Odysseus
and old Laertes. In this scene - where Athene and Zeus stop the fighting before
it really begins - Odysseus charges Telemakhos to "be certain not to shame
the blood of [his) futhers" who have "all across the world surpassed
in manhood and valor" (24.508-9). Telemakhos
can only reply: "You will see, dear father, if you wish, that as for as my
will goes, I will not shame my blood that comes from you, which you speak
of" (511-12).
The final
spear-cast of old Laertes is symbolic. Guided effectively by Athene, it will
bring about the final death before peace settles over the land. No more fighting.
If kleos is to be gained in the future, other standards will have to be
recognized. Perhaps in the character of Telemakhos we have a model in progress.
[This essay was previously published in Volume XXII February
1995 Number 3 of the New England Classical Newsletter & Journal.]
Additional note: When
preparing this paper for the 1994 annual meeting of the Classical Association
of New England I could not have predicted my later association with the late
Charles Segal (whose work I quote here) who was known to me as one of the most
admirable among living classicists. Later
in the year this essay was published I had the great pleasure of auditing Professor’s
Segal’s “Odyssey” seminar at Harvard where I spent the academic year as an NEH
Visiting Scholar. In fact, I was pleased
to preside over his final exam in his absence away at a conference in Pisa.
End
Notes
1 All references are to Richmond
Lattimore's translation. The Odyssey of Homer (New York 1967).
2 The unique
nature of Telemakhos' search for kleos. introduced by Athene in Book I,
has long been a subject of interest to scholars. An excellent summary of the
major critical positions on the subject can be found in P. V. Jones' "The kleos
of Telemachus: Odyssey 1.95," AJP 109 (1988) 496506.
3 C. Segal. "Kleos and Its
Ironies in the Odyssey" in Homer's The Odyssey. ed. H. Bloom
(New Haven 1988).
4 J. Finley, Homer's Odyssey (Cambridge.
MA 1978) 144. SPinley (above, note 4) 156.
6 The subject of marriage as a natural
continuation of a young
man's growth
dominates Telemakhos' visit to the home of Menelaos and Helen. Note
particularly Helen's gift to Telemakhos of a robe for his wife to wear
"on the occasion of his marriage" (15.126-7).
7 Segal
(above, note 3) 148.
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