Odysseus And Telemachus Hero's Journey In The Odyssey

Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, displays the frequent literary tool known as a hero's journey shown through Odysseus and Telemachus, often drawing a comparison between the two. A hero's journey is defined as a hero who journeys on an adventure, along the way learning a lesson and winning the overarching conflict of the journey. Odysseus’ hero's journey starts in Homer’s epic, The Iliad, which depicts Odysseus’ call to adventure with the start of the Trojan War. On the contrary, Telemachus’ hero's journey is fully shown in The Odyssey, with his call to action being to find his father, Odysseus, who has been gone 20 years. Both Odysseus and Telemachus learn a lesson throughout their journey. Odysseus learns self-control and not letting his egotistical side get to him whereas Telemachus grows from a boy to a man learning what it truly means

Both heroes' journeys take place in Ancient Greece with both traveling to different islands. The Odyssey takes place 10 years after the end of the Trojan War, 20 years after Odysseus left for the Trojan War. In summary, both Odysseus and Telemachus’ hero's journey develops them as individuals and bonds them as father and son. Odysseus’ hero's journey is unique as he is further along in his expedition when The Odyssey starts. His call to adventure started with the Trojan War. Now that he's been gone 20 years, he's only learning his true lesson. Odysseus is described as a wise man built like Zeus himself with cleverness. “But just as great Odysseus thrash things out, Poseidon god of the earthquake launched the Colossal wave, terrible, murderers, arching over him, pounding down on him, hard as a windstorm blasting piles of a dry parch chaff, scattering flying husks so the long Plains of his boat were scattered far and wide” (Homer Book 5 lines 402-407). Odysseus is often seen as clever; he must learn not to let