Irlandos: /* Other Appearances */

2006-07-25T09:52:05Z

Other Appearances

Irlandos at 15:00, December 28, 2005

2005-12-28T15:00:24Z

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'''Telemachus''' (also '''Telemachos'''; literally, "far-away fighter") is a figure in [[Greek mythology]], the son of [[Odysseus]] and [[Penelope]]. His part in the saga of Odysseus was described by [[Homer]] in the epic poems of the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'', in which his part of the story is often portrayed as a passage into manhood from childhood. In particular, the first four books of the ''Odyssey'' are sometimes referred to as the [[Telemachy]].

==In the Odyssey==

Telemachus was born on the day that his father was called to fight in the [[Trojan War]]. Attempting to renege on his oath to defend [[Helen of Troy|Helen]], Odysseus sowed salt into his fields in feigned madness. The emissary [[Palamedes]], who was sent to call Odysseus to battle, placed the infant Telemachus before the plow. Odysseus stopped, proving his sanity and obliging himself to the war.

After his father had been gone for nearly 20 years, young Telemachus was visited by [[Athena]], who disguised herself as [[Mentor]] and advised him to travel in search of news of his father. He traveled to [[Pylos]] and [[Lacedaemon]]. Their rulers, [[Nestor]] and [[Menelaus]], were friendly, and held his father in high regard, but did not know what became of [[Odysseus]]. Telemachus forms an "intimate friendship" with Nestor's son [[Pisistratus]], who accompanies him on the search for his father, however, the two are only able to find out that Odysseus is being held captive by [[Calypso]]. When Telemachus returns to Ithaca, Athena in another disguise prompts him to visit the swineherd [[Eumaeus]], instead of returning to his home. At the pigkeeper's cottage he discovers that the beggar staying with [[Eumaeus]] is his father. He then accompanies Odysseus and the swineherd into the hall where they kill all the suitors.

==Other Appearances==
*According to [[Aristotle]] and [[Dictys]], Telemachus, Odysseus's son, married [[Nausicaa]], King Alcinous's daughter, and had a son named Perseptolis or Ptoliporthus.
*According to the ''[[Telegony]]'', Telemachus married [[Circe]] after his father's death.

[[Category:Characters in the Odyssey]]

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Telemachus - Revision history

Irlandos: /* Other Appearances */

Irlandos at 15:00, December 28, 2005