Maturity is not measured by age, race or gender, but it is measured when an individual takes an experience, owns up to their responsibility and starts to make a difference with that experience. Many people think that with age comes maturity, and that is invalid. For instance, the Suitors, they are middle aged men with little to no maturity. On the other hand, Telemachus gains maturity when he realizes that he must own up to the responsibility to control Ithaca and the suitors while Odysseus is gone. In the book The Odyssey, Telemachus and Odysseus experienced maturity throughout their journey in the novel written by Homer. Growing up is not an assured stage, but with initiative and motivation, maturity can be reached like it was for the characters. Homer coveys the difficulties of growing up through characters and their evolution in his epic poem, The Odyssey. At first, Telemachus was described as spoiled, this is …show more content…
In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, he uses characters background and evolution to support the fact that growing up is not an assured stage, but with initiative and motivation, it can be reached effectively. Telemachus and Odysseus receive help from their aid, Athena. She guides Telemachus from being a spoiled kid to someone who is a leader. Athena helps Odysseus reach home safely, and guides him on making important decisions on his journey back. She steers them in the right direction when they start to lose maturity. From the Book The Odyssey, the moral learned from maturity is that people must be motivated and have the initiative to make a change with ourselves because it will not happen automatically. Although the Odyssey was written millenniums ago, it remains relevant to adolescents in every decade and culture. The same need for initiative that Telemachus displayed in his journey to grow up is experienced by teenagers in modern society. Thus, Homer’s The Odyssey remains an essential text because its themes about growing up are still applicable