We Don't Like Telemachus.

It's basically unquestioned that the most disturbing moment in The Odyssey is at the end of Book 22, when Odysseus and Telemachus have finished killing all the suitors, and they proceed to kill the female slaves who had slept with the suitors. The reasons for the disgust this scene creates are strong and numerous, but we have mostly attributed Homer's decision to include such a brutal killing to the difference between our views of this manner of murder and the views of Ancient Greece. However, I believe that he includes many of these horrific details to make it clear that Odysseus and especially Telemachus aren't perfectly moral heroes; perhaps, we aren't supposed to like Telemachus at all.

The strongest example which I believe points to this conclusion is the discrepancy between the emphasis Homer puts on the suitors and the slave girls. As we have discussed, he spends several books showing us the crimes of the suitors, which are likely meant to make us hate the suitors as much as Odysseus does. He shows us over and over that they deserve death, as they treat Odysseus, disguised as an old beggar, extremely poorly in his own halls, refuse to give him a taste of his own food, and throw his own stools at him. All the while they show no sign of redeeming qualities, even when given the chance. Homer clearly intends that the suitors look evil and deserve what they have coming. In contrast, he spends almost no time describing the crimes of the slaves Odysseus has killed, giving little more reason for their slaying than their disloyalty. At times, he even seems to stick up for them, as Odysseus notes that the suitors made them do the things he kills them for, and Homer compares them to birds being caught in a trap as they simply try to fly to their nests. The reader has little reason to believe that they should deserve a punishment as great as death, let alone the a more torturous death than the suitors received.

This brings us to Telemachus. While Odysseus made the decision that the slaves deserved to die, a decision we see that he had made well in advance, it it was Telemachus whose spontaneous "initiative" worsened their deaths. Odysseus tells Telemachus to "hack at them with long swords", which is roughly equivalent to what he did to the suitors. Telemachus, who develops into a hero through the course of the poem, develops one more step by insisting that the slaves not die a clean death. In my view, this is the step that draws into question whether we should continue to support him. His heroism flourishes at the same times as his father's, during the battle with the suitors, as he killed several of them in support of Odysseus and as revenge. Yet, he only shows "initiative" when none is needed, when he has the slaves trapped. He brings his development as a hero and as a warrior too far, taking revenge on those who Homer appears to believe don't deserve it. If I am correct in this assessment, then it should be clear that Homer means for us to lose all our appreciation for Telemachus as a hero.

Athena's Plan

We have discussed Athena's role in the section of The Odyssey where Odysseus wakes up on the shores of Ithaca. It was largely agreed upon that she has a great admiration for Odysseus and his cleverness in his deceit and trickery, and that her role is partially, if not mostly, as an audience to his schemes, as evidenced by her compliments to him and telling him to apply his skills to trick the suitors and dispatch with them rather than plotting for him as she did for Telemachus. However, I feel that this is somewhat a simplification of her role and that, in fact, she has plans of her own for Odysseus.

The first thing which struck me while rereading this section at the end of Book 13 was Athena changing Odysseus's appearance. Even though she had told him to think of ways to strike the suitors, she didn't simply tell him what was happening in his house and left him to his plots, which a reader could only assume were likely to have been successful. Instead, she inserts herself into the situation further by giving Odysseus a new appearance. There are two significant aspects to this action. First, this is entirely Athena's idea, no input from Odysseus was given, which contradicts the idea that she simply wants to watch him do his stuff and enjoy the show. Second, while she could just as well have given him a disguise, she chose to do something to his appearance which Odysseus could not undo himself when the time came. Athena would be required again to change him back into his original guise, which implies, though does not require, that she had some indication already of when she would need to do that. In other words, she likely had a plan for how Odysseus would set up and approach the suitors before she changed his appearance.

Athena even hints at her plan by telling him what effect the change will have, to make the suitors and Telemachus see him as ugly, and telling him who to go to first. While it could be argued that she is only giving him initial conditions which will set up a show she wants to see, the more obvious explanation (to me) is that she is setting up a situation which is likely to guide Odysseus towards carrying out a plan she has already finished plotting. It is unlikely that she would have given him a first step to take (talking to the slave) if she wanted to see the full extent of his creativity in action, even if the majority of her plan is to allow his abilities to lie carry him forward from that point forward.