Another element of The Odyssey I’ve been struck by is the character of Telemachus, the 20 year old son of Odysseus, left without his father for ten years and desperate for his return.
In the absence of Odysseus who was fighting a war in Troy, a group of suitors began to gather around his wife, Penelope vying for her hand in marriage assuming Odysseus was dead.
I see the character of the Suitors as poor facsimiles for the true father of Telemachus and husband of Penelope, it rings of the falseness of the world. Those people and ideas seeking their own benefit and attempt to creep into our lives. They are all over our media environment. Replacements for the real. I think mostly of men like Andrew Tate convincing young men that his self serving and shallow cocktail of materialism and control over women is their true path. The Internet is littered with superficial influencers… even this app itself is a kind of Suitor, projecting a thin version of reality.
In the beginning of the tale, the goddess Athena comes to Telemachus in disguise, encouraging him on the right way. Though not telling him the truth of his father she tells him the truth of himself, who he is and how to find out the truth. He is a character I think we can all identify with.
It’s surprisingly relevant.
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