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Raising Children In Homer's The Odyssey

1288 Words6 Pages

Imagine trying to take care of your family by yourself while dealing with a rabble of troublesome men living in your house, bothering you every second of the day. In the set of poems The Odyssey by Homer, Penelope, The wife of Odysseus and Queen of Ithaca, has to raise her son, Telemachus, by herself and rule all of Ithaca alone for twenty whole years while Odysseus is off fighting in the Trojan War. Telemachus has to grow up without a father, leaving no one but his mother to teach him the basic things everyone should learn as a child. Penelope is also given little to no time to spend with Telemachus because she needs to run the city. Nevertheless, He would later follow in his father’s footsteps and become a fighter. This scenario conveys the …show more content…

Many single parents will make the mistake of raising their child on their own with no help from friends and family. In most situations, It’s just not possible for the parent to do that many things and be in two different places at the same time. According to the article, “One early solution was to turn to her brothers and sisters for help, to cover all the bases for her kids. Although they did help, more was needed” (Foerstner 2). This statement expresses the fact that single parents will need help from other people, whether it be from their own family or friends they have good connections with. Despite the help she received from her family members, it still was not enough to get both the kids into a comfortable position. This further explains how much help is really needed from others and exactly how hard it is to raise a child independently. Penelope was able to raise Telemachus really well due to the fact that she got help from people like Eumaeus and Eurycleia. The help from other people gave her time to bond a bit with Telemachus and deal with all the struggles she is going through. A financial crisis is bound to happen with only one person working a full-time job instead of two, requiring some adaptation to overcome this problem. The article explains, “To help her over the initial financial crisis, she moved in with her father in Park Ridge and found herself juggling a full-time job” (Foerstner 2). Finding ways to save money like moving into another house is essential in single parenting. Paying for rent takes a large chunk of money out of pockets every month. Moving in with a family member or friend will save a lot of money in the long run. The entire family can also get new hobbies from other friends or older family members that have experience and spend less money going to the movies or bowling. The situation is alike to Penelope because

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Basically, everyone has had a family they have had to worry about protecting them in some way as Telemachus. Times have changed, but basis of the story is still around over decades. People still have the responsibility to protect and take care of their family with or without a father. When Telemachus did finally return and his father returned they still protected their family and took revenge on the suitors by killing them all. This is an example of loyalty Odysseus and Telemachus had to their family.

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Both Odysseus and Telemachus, the father and son duo, showcase their individual characterization and journey through stages of deep paralysis as well as a period of recuperation and learning from model kingdoms in Greece. In order to grow and become solid leaders for Ithaca, both Odysseus and Telemachus must have moments of feeling paralyzed and dysfunctional so that they are able to learn how to deal with their situations. For Telemachus, his struggle was at home where he found himself surrounded by suitors who cared only about winning the hand of his mother, Penelope, and thus led to Telemachus’s “heart {to be} obsessed with grief,” (133). This poor nineteen-year-old boy grew up with no father figure and now finds himself to be surrounded

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Odysseus’s Traits Throughout the Odyssey, the main character Odysseus goes on an epic adventure with his focus being to get home to his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. He faces many obstacles dealing with characters such as the Cyclopes, Poseidon, Aeolus, Athena, Helios, Calypso, Zeus, Hermes, Scylla, and Circe. Odysseus’s men are some of the most valuable people to him throughout the Odyssey. He always puts himself in front of danger for them to protect them even though they all died from an unexpected turn of events soon before he returns home. When Odysseus comes home he greets his twenty year old son and straightens things out on his homeland, Ithaca.

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Telemachus Growing into a Strong Mature Man Samuel Ullman, an American businessman and poet, once said, “Maturity is the ability to think, speak, and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity.” Samuel’s words hold true in Homer 's The Odyssey. In this extraordinary poem, Telemachus, the Son of Penelope, queen of Ithaca, and Odysseus, king of Ithaca. While Odysseus is at war fighting, Telemachus losing fait about his father coming home. He soon starts to question that he could be dead or alive.

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Fathers are some of the most influential people there will ever be; they teach you some of the basic rules of life, they show you how to act, they lead you when you don’t know what to do. But what happens when you grow up without a father? In The Odyssey, written by Homer, we follow the story of a man who, on the day of his son’s birth, was forced to go to war. Odysseus was gone for a painstakingly long 20 years, and during that time, Telemachus grew up watching his mother struggle. As the queen of Ithaca, Penelope had many suitors fighting for her hand: the king was gone and they took control.

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Their father-son relationship is the most important of all throughout the Odysseus and this is proven time and again throughout the entire body of work. Their relationship is not only important to the story itself but to the themes as well. Family is the fundamental principle that not only they have but that the entire family has. Penelope is especially worried for her son as he is not at home and the suitors have planned to kill him on the sea before he can reach home. Xenia has also been passed down to Telemachus even though Odysseus wasn’t there.

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It is made clear by Homer in numerous occasions throughout the books. In the first few books, Homer depicts Penelope as the mother that depends highly on her son’s devotion. That is when Telemachus initially attested his

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In Homer’s Poem, The Odyssey, Penelope is the exceptionally patient and clever spouse of the infamous hero, Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. One poignant factor of Penelope’s character is her patience and devotion which is displayed throughout the poem. With her husband absent for a great majority of her life for the later of twenty years and his location unknown, Penelope stays, patiently awaiting Odysseus’ return, all whilst preserving their estate and raising her son by herself. Throughout this time, she had many persistent suitors in pursuit of her, abusing her husband’s absence.

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In an epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus struggles to come back home while his wife, Penelope, faces barbarous suitors who plague her house to court her for the marriage in order to claim the kingship of Ithaca. With an absence of the man of the household and a son who is not old enough to rule over the country and handle the domestic complications, Penelope endeavors to keep the household orderly and civilized. In order to prevent further chaos in the household, Penelope maintains her role as the Queen of Ithaca and Odysseus’s wife through her loyalty and cunning. For a woman who does not know when her man will return home, Penelope is extremely strong to keep hope and wait for her husband; thus, her unwavering loyalty to her husband

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As mystery author Dan Brown said, “No love is greater than that of a father for his son.” In The Odyssey by Homer, father/son relationships play a strong role, the most prominent being Odysseus and Telemachus, Odysseus and Laertes, and Polyphemus and Poseidon. These relationships drive many major parts of the story these relationships display characteristics that the Greeks valued. The Odyssey focuses on these relationships which shows that they are central to the story, and the characteristics that the relationships display are the characteristics that were valued by the Greeks. The father/son relationships between Odysseus and Telemachus, Odysseus and Laertes, and Polyphemus and Poseidon in the Odyssey are very important to the story, and

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The Odyssey Character Analysis Essay During a time where males had complete hegemony over society, its customs, its people and its conventions, several women in the epic The Odyssey became notable through their actions that defied what it meant to be a woman in ancient Greece. As the wife of the renowned hero Odysseus, Penelope demonstrated a level of sagacity that rivaled that of her husband’s through the subtle deception of others. Similarly, the powerful magic wielding nymph Kalypso also revealed the outstanding intellect that enabled her to secure an iron rule over her own island. Although seeming to be radically different, these two individuals both utilized their wits extensively throughout the epic, differing only in the traits that

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“Foundation of Family” Family is the fundamental building block of all societies. It is all inclusive across generations and cultures. Based on the epic poem The Odyssey and current families today, we see that family is where we learn to love ourselves and each other, to bear one another’s burdens, to find meaning in our life and to give purpose to other’s lives, and to feel the value of being part of something greater than ourselves. Family is where we experience our biggest triumphs, deepest vulnerabilities, and where we have the greatest potential to do good.

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In the poem, “The Odyssey,” Homer depicts an epic poem which took place in 720 B.C. In the era Homer talks about a man named Odysseus who was in the war of Troy. He has been cursed by the god Poseidon who has kept him from home for twenty years. Odysseus has been trying to get back home to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. Although on his journey back home he is unaware that suitors are threatening his home and family.

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It can be inferred that when a single parent takes on a child, they think of any given situation that life might throw their way and prepare and plan for the worst so the kid does not end up back in Foster Care. an article even states “What prospective single parents do need, however, is a lot of self-reflection. Because it’s hard to raise a child alone, prospective parents should take stock of several key issues, including finances, lifestyle and support. Ms. Hochman offers these questions to consider, especially for singles, before plunging into the adoption process” (Adoption and the single guy, Lisa Beach). This evidence shows that when adopting singles are questioned and checked to make sure they are fit to care for a child.

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