The Development of Telemakhos' adult self in the first four books of The Odyssey
             Telemakhos clearly makes the transition from boy into man during the first books
             of The Odyssey. This development into a man is not so much of the body as it is of the
             mind. Neither is this journey completely voluntary. Telemakhos must mature in order to
             deal with the turbulence surrounding his household. In the beginning of The Odyssey
             Telemakhos is unhappy, but uninspired to do anything about his unfortunate surroundings
             until Athena arrives. Athena is, in many ways, Telemakhos' guide during his
             transformation. There is a vast difference between the Telemakhos of book one and the
             Telemakhos of book four; in the way he speaks, the way he thinks of his family, and in his
             In the beginning of Book One, Homer describes Telemakhos: "...sitting there
             unhappy among the suitors,/ a boy, daydreaming. What if his great father/ came from the
             unknown world and drove these men/ like dead leaves through the place, recovering/
             honor and lordship in his own domains?" Athena arrives in the next line of the poem, and
             Telemakhos immediately begins to evolve. With Athena's presence we see a more mature
             Telemakhos, ready to take on his somewhat limited role as head of the household. He is
             sympathetic to the stranger (Athena in disguise), and hurries him away from the noise of
             the suitors. While making conversation with Athena, Telemakhos displays doubt that
             Odysseus with ever return to Ithaka but preserves the fantasy of Odysseus' triumphant
             Telemakhos must change his temperament considerably in order to even embark
             on the journey to find news of his father. Athena gives him both the wisdom and the
             strength he needs to begin the journey. The first indication of this is when Telemakhos
             scolds Penelope for asking the minstrel to stop singing about the homecoming from Tr
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