Book 4: Menelaos

I, Telemakhos, have finally reached the kingdom of Menelaos to hear of my father, Odysseus. I was greeted with honor as Peisistratos and I entered and feasted with Menelaos, king of Sparta. When I walked in I was astounded with the palace that I was in. There were so many treasured objects and metals there. At first Menelaos didn't realize that I was Odysseus' son. But when he began to speak of him and my emotions took hold of me he immediately understood who I was. He spoke of my father as if he had been his best friend. Soon we all got caught up in mourning for my father. Though it seemed to pass rather quickly after we had all had our wine to drink. Helen also spoke of how disgusted she was with her past self in starting the Trojan War. Menelaos then began the story of what he knew of my father and how he had found the information. The story brought me the answer that I had wanted to hear. Menelaos told me that Kalypso had captured my father and that he could not leave because he had no ship with oars, and no ship's company to pull him back to sea. It may seem bleak, but at least I know that he is alive and what has happened to him. As a parting gift, Menelaos gave me a very fine wine bowl that made me feel very welcome and happy in Sparta.

I think that what has happened in the fourth book shows even more greatly how Telemakhos is maturing as a man. He kept his cool around one of the most powerful kings in the world at the time. In general, when somebody is around a person with high power that they have heard a lot about, they get intimidated and start to speak nonsense or don't speak clearly. I also think that Menelaos has proven himself to be an ally in the story because of how kindly he treated Telemakhos and Peisistratos.