It is because of these problems that lead Athena to send Telemachus on his heroвЂ™s quest, hoping both that he will find his father and that he will learn those things that he is supposed to know in order to take his fatherвЂ™s position should that be necessary. Unfortunately, since he has not had the example of his father to follow, Telemachus proves unable to manage the household effectively once the houseguests arrive and he is very awkward in his manners, which is shown when he arrives in Pylos.

Because Telemachus is OdysseusвЂ™ son, he is expected to have many of OdysseusвЂ™ qualities, such as a strong sense of hospitality, loyalty to his men, intelligence and patience as well as impeccable manners. The relationship between Odysseus and his son Telemachus is necessarily non-existent in spite of the fact that they are so closely related because Odysseus has been gone for most of TelemachusвЂ™ life. By focusing on the father/son relationship, Homer reveals what was important to the ancient Greeks and what should still be important to us today. At the same time, he shows how the strength of family can help the group overcome impossible odds.

By focusing on these relationships, Homer is able to illustrate the importance of maintaining a continuity between the generations either for good or evil. Other father/son relationships shown are Nestor and Pisistratus, Poseidon and the Cyclops Polyphemus and Eupithes and Antinous. These include, obviously, the relationship between Odysseus and his son Telemachus as well as the relationship between Odysseus and his father Laertes. There are a lot of father and son relationships explored in this story as a result. There are plenty of examples of good families whose balance extends to their kingdoms as well as examples of bad families whose imbalance leads to hardship in the kingdom. Almost everything that happens in the story is somehow connected to the idea of family and the importance of a well-balanced unit. And this is the story of how, at last, he came back after another ten years.One of the most compelling things to me about the story of the Odyssey is the importance that is placed throughout the story on the relationship that exists between fathers and sons. And when Ulysses stopped lest he should hurt him, people said: 'This man is not really mad.' So he had to go. But some one took his little son and laid him in front of the plough. So he pretended to be mad, and took a plough down to the sea-shore and began to plough the sand. He had married Penelope, a very good and beautiful wife, and had a little son,Telemachus. Ulysses was, according to one story, very unwilling to go. This story is about one of these Greek princes, Ulysses by name, who was the King of Ithaca (an island on the west coast of Greece). Then the Greeks began to think about going home. The siege lasted for a long time, but in the tenth year the city was taken. On the other hand, the Trojans were helped by many of the nations that lived near them. So they all went to besiege Troy, each taking a number of his subjects with him. Her father had made them all swear, that if any one should steal her away from the man whom she would choose for her husband, they would help him to get her back. She was the most beautiful woman in the world, and all the princes of Greece had come to her father's court wishing to marry her. The eldest son of the king who reigned in this city carried off the wife of one of the Greek kings, and with her a great quantity of gold and silver. A GREAT many years ago there was a very famous siege of a city called Troy.

Telemachus in the odyssey