Telemachus As A Mother In Homer's Odyssey

Every person living or dead had a mother, and at a point you wonder how far, how hard, and the depths of peril a mother would go through for her child. In Homer's epic novel The Odyssey, King Odysseus goes missing for twenty years, leaving his wife penelope with their son Telemachus to rule a kingdom gone mad. The lengths that Penelope went to protect and provide Telemachus with the power of both a mother and father were extraordinary. Despite being a single mother that had to play the role of both the mother and the father, having to involve new role models, and giving up and sacrificing a lot for her child, Penelope is still an amazing mother to Telemachus.

In order to be a good mother, Penelope would have had to given Telemachus the experience

For example, Penelope was always trying to keep her son away from suitors and delayed the marriage of another man in order to keep the both of them safe. Keeping herself safe allowed her to focus better on giving him an improved life. “ ‘The essence of being a good parent is putting your own needs first’...It does mean keeping yourself as grounded and as stress free as possible so you can give your baby the wonderful childhood he or she deserves”(Sarah 3). In the book, Penelope does tasks to keep herself from having to marry one of the many men trying to overtake the throne. By doing so, she allows herself more time to really focus on her son, instead of him worrying about adjusting to a new father who most likely would not have his best interest in mind. He got a better childhood as he never actually had to face a father like that, and penelope gave up an easy road in order for him to have that life. When it comes to sacrifice, much of what Penelope does for Telemachus is emotional. She really kept a spirit up that Odysseus was alive and would one day return. “Your child may see Dad all the time, or Dad may be out of the picture--or anything in between. It’s up to you, however, to make your childs feel loved no matter what”(Rachel 2). With single mothers it can be very difficult to give the love of both parents, and being able to do so with all the struggles they already go through can seem insane. The amount of emotional baggage and exhaustion that causes a person is insane, but of course she battles it will for the sake of her son. Telemachus not being able to see his father for so long was difficult, but being able to have a mother so loving and caring was an important part of his life. The way she goes about being able to deal with suitors and other insane obstacles along her way proves how much Penelope would go through for