Heroism plays a huge role in The Odyssey. Odysseus' son, Telemachus, has some big footsteps to follow, and in order to do this he must learn the ways of a hero in order to become one. Telemachus' journey through out the book represents his growth and maturity as a person.
             Telemachus is young, lacks self-confidence, and is inexperienced in the ways of the world. This is a major issue because Telemachus is the son of Odysseus. Odysseus is a great hero of the time period and for this reason his son is expected to follow in his footsteps. When we are introduced to Telemachus in Book 1, his palace is being overrun by the suitors who are eating his cattle and drinking his wine. He has no authority and shows a huge lack of self-confidence. At this point of the story Telemachus has the family name, but he has not lived up to it yet. There are certain qualities which Telemachus needs to possess in order to live up to this hero identity. He never shows any self-confidence. The suitors are over running his palace and he does not even have the courage to stand up to them. Charisma along with mental strength are other characteristics lacking from Telemachus' personality. But most importantly, Telemachus does not embody the characteristic of kleos. This is a Greek word meaning a heroic reputation, a hero's highest reward (Clark 34). Through out his journey Telemachus will develop this heroic reputation along with gaining these other characteristics, which he does not have in Book 1. He needs to learn the rules of hospitality as well as knowledge of the Trojan War.
             There are several reasons why Telemachus is so inexperienced and naive. He is only twenty years old and his father has been away from Ithaca for about twenty years. Do to this reason, his mother and her servants raised him. He had no real male role model or a normal father-son relationship. The only males who were really present around Telemachus whi...