Telemachus’ epic Journey to manhood

“Telemachus, now to remember your coming of age. Years your trust was open as the doors of your house…” (Hughes 1960). Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek epic poem that predominantly uncovers the heroic journey of Odysseus in his struggle to return to Ithaca from the Trojan War. He has been gone for nearly twenty years, and his absence has stirred up much trouble for the survival of his kingdom. We are brought to the distinct knowledge that Odysseus was a highly esteemed character amongst his people, but it is mostly through his son, Telemachus’ coming of age and the journey which he embarks on that we learn of this. Telemachus a complete opposite of his father lacks certain characteristics that an ideal hero would portray due to the frank manner in which he conveys meaning and the way he perceives things that are spoken. Therefore, this essay aims to discuss the role that conversation plays as a crucial point of development for Telemachus and the influence it has on his development. Through closely analyzing the given extracts from The Odyssey I will explore Telemachus’ naivety as an undeveloped boy when his addressing Mentes, his secret journey to Sparta and Pylos, reuniting and conspiring with his father and his increased boldness in the end, accordingly identifying the emphasis that each of the extracts places on different points of conversation in his development throughout the essay. The purpose of this is to establish how language