I am Telemakhos, Odysseus' son. I have been kind of down lately because of all of these suitors trying to make their case for my mom to marry them here at my father's palace and doing whatever they want. It also doesn't help that I haven't seen my father for about twenty years and don't even remember what he looks like. I mother is also sad for the same reasons as I am. Although with all of these bad things happening around me something promising did happen today. A sea Captain of the name Mentes arrived at the palace and said that my father is still alive and that I should travel around the area to find news of him. Mentes also urged me on to try to force the suitors out of the palace instead of just feeliong sorry for myself. So after he left I made the suitors leave and also promised myself that I would venture out to find my father. I also realized that Mentes was no ordinary man, he was a god or a goddess really. I began to think a long time that night about what I had just done, but unfortunetly, the first book ended before anything else could happen.
At the very beginning of the first book, it describes how after Odysseus' great adventure only he is the surviving person. The book then gets to describing what had first started the long journey when Odysseus' men slaughtered and feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun. Thus, starting their long turn of unlucky events which turned even worse when Odysseus angered Poseidon after he had blinded Cyclops, Poseidon's son. Odysseus ends up as a prisoner of Kalypso in a cave after Poseidon leaves to feast on a banquet held for himself. Athena soon voices her opinion about what she feels is rash action towards Odysseus to the rest of the Gods and Goddesses. Soon she travels down to Odysseus' palace disguised as another person where a number of arrogant suitors are making their case for Penelope, Odysseus' wife, to marry them and so that they can become king. When Athena arrives at the palace she is greeted by Telemakhos and trys to motivate him to stop feeling sorry for himself not having father and to take action to force the suitors, who hate him and do not respect him at all, out and try to find his father, Odysseus. Telemakhos takes this advice after Athena leaves and forces the suitors out the next day. The first book ends with Telemakhos lost in thought about the advice Athena had given him.
Opinion
Based on what was in the first chapter, I think that the events that have happened to Odysseus at sea is a little unfair based on how one was not even caused by him, and the other he had no choice but to do. I think that what Athena did in trying to motivate Telemakhos to take action against the rash suitors was also a good thing to do because one, it made a timid, shy person stand up for himself. The second thing that Athena gave Telemakhos was hope that his father was still alive somewhere in the world. I can also see from Telemakhos' point of view of why he didn't want to speak up against the suiters. In general, when a persom is outnumbered with people that would jump at the first chance to kill them, they would rather keep their mouth's shut.
http://www.online-literature.com/homer/odyssey/
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