Odyssey
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How effective are the first four books of the Odyssey?
The Odyssey is generally thought of as an epic journey but the word journey can be used in more ways than one. Although predominantly, the Odyssey focuses on the homecoming of Odysseus following the Trojan War, it also contains a sub plot, the Telemachia, books 1-4, which focus on the journey of Telemachus, and are not so much a physical journey but a journey into adulthood.
Throughout the first four books, we see Telemachus undergo a series of changes which will not only help him to establish an identity separate from his father's, but will also help him to find himself as an adult in his own right.
In the Telemachia, Telemachus must make an ethical decision to resist his mother's suitors, and to disobey her commands in order to follow a higher calling, the calling in this particular case is that of the goddess Athena. By doing so and taking the goddesses advice, Telemachus begins the transition into manhood. From the moment Athene speaks to him, it is evident that he is no longer a child but a man worthy of personally speaking to the gods, 'realised a god had been with him.' 1.324. With Athene having given Telemachus, 'spirit and daring' 1...