Nature and Nurture

[This is a paper on the Odyssey, by Homer, i wrote two years ago]

Two of A Kind
Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, explores qualities that are shared by seemingly different characters. When someone thinks of Telemachus, the careless prince of Ithaca, and Antinous, the evil leader of the suitors, they are thinking of two enemies who are nothing alike and want nothing more than to strike each other down with brute force. However, there are many examples in The Odyssey that prove this to be false. For example, they are both brave men at times, and will not back down when they are faced with an obstacle. That is a quality that very few men possess. They are also careless with their decisions at the times it matters most. Although Telemachus and Antinous appear to be entirely different, they are both brave, lack cunningness, and do not always posses hospitality.
Even though Greek culture forbids it, Antinous is usually inhospitable and rude to others, and Telemachus has his rare moments of rudeness, intentional or not. Antinous is just a mean person in general and is not hospitable in numerous ways. For example, he has been destroying Odysseus’ house, feasting on his food, and disrespecting his family for years. Even after Telemachus orders him to leave their home, Antinous refuses and goes on with his usual ways. The one time a foreign beggar, who turns out to be Odysseus, approaches him inside the palace and begs to him for food, Antinous gives him a very rude and unwelcoming response:
‘What a brazen, shameless beggar! Scrounging food from each man in turn, and look at their handouts, reckless, never a qualm, no holding back, not when making free with the next mans goods—each one’s got plenty here.’…Boiling over Antinous gave him a scathing look and let fly, ‘Now you won’t get out of the hall unscarred, I swear, not after such a filthy string of insults!’ With that he seized the stool and hurled it—Square in the back it struck Odysseus. CITE!!!!
Antinous rudely resorts to throwing objects at this haggard beggar. The ironic thing about this quote is that Antinous yells at the beggar for trying to obtain other people’s goods and not working for his own, while this whole time Antinous is living off of Odysseus’ palace and belongings. Similar to Antinous, Telemachus has his moments of inhospitable acts. He is a character that is portrayed as a very nice man, so his rudeness is unexpected. He, however, is only rude to others when he feels it is necessary. Telemachus chose not to tell his own mother that he is leaving on a journey and chose not to wish her good bye. Penelope was very depressed at that time and Telemachus should have at least told her of his departure. Telemachus was also impolite to King Nestor when he chose not to visit with him:
‘Son of Nestor, won’t you do as I ask you, see it through? We’re friends for all our days now, so we claim, thanks to our fathers’ friendship. We’re the same age as well and this tour of ours has made us more like brothers. Prince, don’t drive me past my vessel, drop me there. Your father’s old, in love with his hospitality; I fear he’ll hold me, chafing in his palace—I must hurry home!’CITE!!!!
Even though Telemachus thought it was absolutely necessary to commence his journey home, it was rude of him to not say hello to King Nestor. The hospitable thing to do would have been to briskly visit with Nestor and then be on his way, instead of sending the word of his vessel leaving through Pisistratus. However neither of these men shows wisdom in his actions.
Antinous and Telemachus are both thought of as smart men, yet they aren’t the most cunning people and make unintelligent decisions. Antinous’ moments of stupidity are usually pertaining to acts that go against Greek god’s wishes. When Telemachus made it home from his journey safely, Antinous was enraged. He had sent suitors to kill Telemachus on his way home, but they had failed due to Athena’s assistance to the young prince. Antinous quickly caught word of his failed plan, and went against the god’s wishes by continuing with his plans: “See how the gods saved this boy from bloody death? And our lookouts all day long/always aboard our swift ship, cruising till dawn, patrolling to catch Telemachus, kill him on the spot, and all the while some spirit whisked him home! So hare at home we’ll plot his certain death: He must never slip through our hands again” (16.402-411). Antinous realized that some of the gods were on Telemachus’ side, but he insisted on plotting to kill him immediately. He didn’t even consider the wrath he may receive from the gods if he murdered Telemachus. Previously, the god Poseidon, placed repercussions on the Phaecians by turning their boat to stone after they dropped Odysseus off on Ithaca. It was very unintelligent for Antinous to think of going against the god’s wishes. Had Amphinomus, a suitor, not stopped his plotting, similarly harsh punishments might have plagued Antinous. He is not the only character that is guilty of showing his lack of cunningness. Telemachus also has his moments of stupidity. Telemachus comes off as a smart and wise young man, but there are many points in his life where his actions contradict this. Throughout Telemachus’ entire journey, he doesn’t hold himself back from telling complete strangers who he is and that he is the son of Odysseus. This is exposing himself to danger by inviting any of his father’s enemies to kill him. Telemachus’ stupidity truly shines when he is trying to fulfill his father’s plan and accidentally leaves the door unlocked which almost gave the suitors back their lives:
Telemachus moved to his father’s orders smartly. Off he ran to the room where the famous arms lay stored, took up four shields, eight spears…and, loaded with these, ran back to reach his fathers side in no time…Odysseus’ knees shook, his heart too, when he saw them buckling on their armor… ‘My fault father,’ the cool prince replied, ‘the blame’s all mine. That snug door to the vault, I left it ajar- they’ve kept a better watch than I.’ (22.116-164)
This was one of the most careless mistakes made by the prince. If Odysseus and his men hadn’t fought so gallantly, the suitors might have killed them after retrieving the weapons left unlocked. Telemachus was not very cunning in this situation, and both he and Antinous are lucky that they make up for some of their unintelligent actions with their bravery.
Bravery and courage are characteristics with which both Antinous and Telemachus are blessed. As Antinous gets used to not having Odysseus’ authority around, he begins to take the role of leader of the suitors and makes all the decisions in the palace. Antinous shows his courage when he rejects the princes requests to leave and makes demands of the queen’s marriage: “So, we will devour your wordly(right word?) goods and wealth as long as she holds out/We’ll not go back to our old estates or leave for other parts, not till she weds the Argive man she fancies.” (2.136-142)
A lot of courage is needed to go against a prince’s wishes and to make the threat that if the Queen does not make her decision soon, the suitors will continue disgracing their house until she does. If Antinous weren’t there to stand strong and make these bold statements, the other suitors would not have stood up to Telemachus. Antinous’ bravery helps him lead all the suitors and prevents him from backing down to anyone. Similar to Antinous, Telemachus also exhibits his bravery in many ways. Right before he begins his journey, Telemachus is inspired by Athena and stands up to the evil suitors. From then on, his courage grows and he seldom shows his old, shy side. His bravery grows to the point where Odysseus questioned his son’s newfound confidence, yet he answers his father by saying: “Soon enough, father/you’ll sense the courage inside me, that I know—I’m hardly a flighty weak willed boy these days.” (16.342-344)
Telemachus is filled with bravery here, and exhibits what he needed to march into his palace, and to slaughter the suitors. His usual reluctance and fear is almost gone when he returns to Ithaca, and this is the point where he recognizes his courage and is ready to face his fears, short handed or not.
Telemachus and Antinous are not as different as they may seem at first glance. Homer’s inserting of parallels between his characters can be seen as good or bad to readers of The Odyssey. It links all the characters together in different ways, creating common ground for them. Readers may therefore make educated guesses as to how random characters will respond to certain events. Readers can also relate to numerous characters, which have similar traits. However, these parallels can complicate the reader’s opinion of characters. Often, the reader is trying to idolize a “heroic” character by looking at how overly great his characteristics are and how different they are from his oppositions. If the “evil” character has quite a few similarities with the good character, good and evil are not so easily labeled. Even the characters that seem different in every way, such as Telemachus and Antinous, have something in common.