The Telemachy

The telemachy is the first four books of the Odyssey and deals with Odysseuss son,
Telemachos/us
We learn in the first book that Odysseus has lost all his friends, is the sole survivor of
some great act and is being held captive
The Proem (first ten lines) tells us that all the gods feel sorry for Odysseus except
Poseidon and due to Poseidons power Odysseus has been unable to return home
A council of the gods was held on Olympus and they mentioned that a man called
Aigisthos (Aegisthus) had courted and married Agamemnons wife, Clytemnestra, whilst
he was away and when he returned Aigisthos killed him
Orestes, Agamemnons son, eventually killed Aigisthos in revenge (he had been
smuggled out of the palace by his sister, Elektra) - as the gods had warned Aigisthos
would happen
However, Orestes has been told by Apollo to also kill his mother - which he did - and was
exiled and hunted by the Furies for his blood crime (killing a family member)
At the meeting Athena (Pallas Athene) brought up the subject of Odysseus who is being
held on the island of Ogygia by the nymph Calypso
Athena asks Zeus to send a god to ask for Odysseuss freedom
Athena, however, goes back to Odysseuss home town Ithaka in disguise
She takes the shape of an old friend of Odysseus, Mentes, and sees that Odysseuss
wife has been waiting twenty years for him to come home although there are many
suitors wanting to marry her
Telemachus extends courtesy to Mentes and allows him to stay in the palace
Athena sees that Penelopes suitors are living in the palace and she tells Telemachos to
make the suitors leave (there are around 180 of them)
Athena tells Telemachus to send his mother back to her father to be remarried; this
would leave Telemachus in charge
She tells Telemachus to visit Pylos and Sparta to seek advice from Nestor and Menelaus
After she tells him these things she turns into a bird and flies away
In book 2 Telemachus calls an assembly of all the Ithakians, including the suitors,
lamenting the fact that there is no one strong enough to drive the suitors away
Telemachus calls on the gods to drive the suitors away and Zeus sent two eagles from
over the mountains and they fought over the assembly
A seer interpreted this to mean that Odysseus will be returning and will punish the suitors
and their accomplices, however the suitors scorned him and didnt believe him
Telemachus then announced his intention to go to Pylos ad Sparta
An inhabitant of the island of Ithaca, Mentor, stepped forward and rebuked the Ithakians
for not believing the seer
Mentor also announced that if Odysseus returns he believes that the suitors will kill him
and divide up his kingdom
One of the suitors also vaguely threatened Telemachus and implied that his death would
benefit the suitors
Telemachus then went to the beach and prayed to Athena
Athena appears to Telemachus as Mentor and tells him that she will be accompanying
him on his journey
When they reach Nestor Athena turns back into a bird in full view of everyone signalling
her favour of Telemachus
When Telemachus is ready to leave Nestor gives him the loan of a chariot and horses
and lends Telemachus his youngest son, Peisistratos, to accompany him to Sparta to
meet Menelaus

 They arrived in Lacedaemon and find that Menelaus is about to celebrate the wedding of
his daughter, Hermione, to the son of Achilles, Neoptolemus
Helen of Troy comes in and recognises Telemachus as Odysseuss son
She then continues to tell her story of when she was in Troy and Odysseus had
disguised himself as a beggar to sneak into the city and gather knowledge
Helen had recognised him but did not betray him - this story paints both her and
Odysseus in a positive light
Menelaus then told the story of the wooden horse - which had been Odysseuss idea which was ostensibly an offering to the gods from the disheartened Greeks who were
retreating, however it was actually full of Greek soldiers and the Greek ships had just
hidden out to sea, intending to come back. Helen had gone up to the horse and spoke
provocatively, imitating the soldiers wives and attempted to tempt them out. Many of
them had almost fallen for it but Odysseus had prevented them from betraying their
position
Before Helen had abandoned Menelaus, causing the war and the fall of Troy, there was
an argument between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite about which of them was the most
beautiful. They went to Zeus to make him choose but he refused and sent them to the
Trojan prince, Paris. They gave him a golden apple and told him to give it to the most
beautiful goddess. They each tried to bribe him and Aphrodite told him that if he chose
her she would give him the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chose Aphrodite
and she sent him to Helen, Menelauss wife. This is known as the Judgement of Paris.
Menelaus had captured Proteus, a shapeshifter god and the old man of the sea, and
enquired about his past companions. Proteus had told him that Ajax the lesser and
Agamemnon had been killed. Proteus also told him that Odysseus still survived on the
island of Calypso but was trapped.
So Telemachus discovers that Odysseus is still alive and as he leaves Menelaus gives
him a silver goblet
Back in Ithaca the suitors discovers that Telemachus has left for Sparta and this worries
them because they realise that Telemachus is growing up
They make plans to lie in wait for him and lay an ambush for him
Penelope hears of their plans and is anguished as she can do nothing but Athena sends
her a dream to comfort her
At this point the Telemachus ends

Book 5
There was another council of the gods and Athena complains that Odysseus has still not
been freed. Hermes travels to Odysseus in Calypsos cave, set on a paradise island
Hermes finds Odysseus crying on the beach and Hermes goes to Calypso and tells her
that the gods want Odysseus freed
Calypso argues that the gods are hardhearted and jealous. She complains that the male
gods fall in love with mortal woman freely but they get angry and jealous when female
gods choose mortal men
Calypso tells him that if he only knew what suffering he faces on his way home he would
stay with her and be an immortal
Odysseus carefully refuses and tells her all he wants is to go home
Odysseus is cast off of the island without a raft but is aided by a minor goddess who
throws a veil over him which protects him until he reaches the island Scherie