Homer is known for uniquely combining cultural concepts and values to create a complete and comprehensive story enriched with morals, which is shown in his masterpiece The Odyssey. Through the first four books, the author develops a storyline with an interaction of a variety of themes, such as fate, free will, justice, grief, glory, honor, loyalty, and others. The mentioned value serves the revealing the feelings and emotions of characters and displaying the atmosphere of ancient Greece. One of the instances is the development and formation of Telemachus’, the son of Odysseus, identity after he visits Nestor and Menelaus. The hospitality he faced is already the indicator of how the author tries to create an accurate insight into the time he lived in, particularly into the generally accepted moral code. Although Nestor does not know much about Odysseus’ fate, he tells Telemachus how heroic and protective his father is, making the young man proud of the blood he possesses.
Through the meeting of Telemachus with Menelaus, the author emphasizes the significance of hospitality as a primary value and develops such features and discretion, leadership, and heroism of the son of Odysseus. The king of Sparta is impressed with his quest and tells about his friendship with Odysseus, showing how much this value means for warriors that they are not even ashamed of weeping. Homer reveals and makes to interact dozens of themes, creating readers’ insight into moral code and primary values.
The first four books of The Odyssey are focused on the son of Odysseus, Telemachus. I assume that it provides several advantages, which contribute to the story in general. First, it is vital to show the readers the complete process of growing a hero. Odysseus is already a mature one, and his further education cannot be a point of focus. On the other hand, Telemachus is young and shall be taught in his own journey. Moreover, providing readers with information about the main protagonist occasionally and indirectly creates a feeling of unknowing. It also conceives a desire to reveal additional details and take a look at the story from the other side.
Besides, growing up without a father and, respectively, having the wish to find out his fate is a strong motive to move on. Telemachus has grown in an insecure house, where suitors are not good men capable of teaching the young boy. In opposite, they make the boy see how his inheritance is being wasted. Nevertheless, the son of Odysseus has a robust moral code and knowledge about hospitality and respect. He is still a teenager of his time, shy, modest but unconfident, vulnerable to strong feelings and inner desires. In the situation when there are no good mentors, he lacks experience and knowledge. However, he possesses strong blood, and the signs of his future heroic stand already exist. Telemachus is a teenager of ancient Greece who still has the knowledge to learn and skills to acquire.
Greek Gods are significantly involved in many vital events in The Odyssey and play an essential role in the story’s plot development. The story about the House of Atreus told by Zeus reveals the curse that began with king Tantalus, punished and imprisoned for all eternity for killing and serving food with his son’s flesh for gods. Agamemnon and Menelaus, who belong to the House of Atreus, are also doomed to be plagued by corruption, betrayal, and murder of family members. Zeus warns Agisthos not to kill the man, do not touch his wife, or face a reckoning. However, the refusal to listening results in seducing Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra, killing Agamemnon, and murdering Agisthos by Orestes. This sequence of events is predictable in the view of the curse of the House of Atreus. Therefore, the story about the House of Atreus was used to parallel described occasions and one that might happen with Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus.
In addition, Telemachus said to Nestor that the fate of Penelope’s suitors should coincide with what happened to Agisthos. It implies that they know about the story and the warning is obvious. Suitors are compared to cursed members of the house, and they shall be doomed as well. The story plays the role of a cautionary tale not to violate divine warnings and maintain morality by proclaiming what is forbidden. Zeus warned Agisthos by the example of what happened to Tantalus, his bloodline, and family members, and the consequences of breaching God’s will were shown and connected to other characters.