Student Question
How are characters like Telemachus and the suitors introduced in the Odyssey, and are there differences among the suitors?
Quick answer:
In The Odyssey, Telemachus is introduced as a "godlike" but troubled young man concerned about his absent father, Odysseus, and the suitors consuming his wealth. He is polite and hospitable, embodying the Greek theme of xenia. The suitors, in contrast, are reckless and insolent, exploiting Odysseus's absence. Homer's introduction assumes familiarity with characters due to the oral tradition, presenting them in media res without extensive background.
In Book 1 of Homer's Odyssey, we are introduced to both gods and humans. On the divine level, we meet Zeus and Athena, both of whom express concern for Odysseus and plan together to bring about his release from Calypso's island.
On the human level, we meet Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, Penelope herself, and her suitors, the various men who are trying to convince her to marry one of them.
Telemachus is a "Godlike", but "troubled" young man who wonders whether his father will ever return home and who worries about whether the suitors will "consume my wealth with their feasts" (A.S. Kline translation). Telemachus is also a polite and hospitable young man, who knows how to treat a guest properly, as evidenced by his treatment of Mentes (Athena in disguise). Hospitality (Greek: xenia ) is a major theme in the Odyssey and Telemachus proves himself...
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a good host. Telemachus also shows himself as a bold, young man who is starting to try to take control of his household as he rebukes his mother when she tries to stop the bard Phemius from playing.
As for Penelope, she remains faithful to Odysseus and shows herself as a modest woman by covering her face with a veil when she appears before Telemachus and the suitors.
In contrast to the hospitality of Telemachus stands the reckless behavior of the suitors, who "amuse themselves with music and song, freely, since they consume another’s wealth without repayment" (A.S. Kline translation). Homer describes the suitors as "a crowd of insolent men" and we should note that insolence, also known as hubris, is a form of reckless arrogance that is usually punished by the gods. Homer's labeling of the suitors as insolent hints that eventually they will be destroyed.
Since even skimming the text or doing a word search of an etext will give you the line numbers at which they are introduced, I assume that you are looking for the literary techniques that Homer uses to introduce characters, which differ considerably from the techniques used in modern literature.
The main difference between modern literature and oral epos is that in oral epic such as the Homeric poems, no one work is assumed to be read in isolation. There was a body of knowledge contained in the oral tradition as a whole that individuals would gradually come to know by attending performances. By the time a person grew up, that person would have heard all the epics multiple times in many versions. So rather than characters being introduced, and given backgrounds, the singer assumes that Telemachus, Odysseus, Penelope, Athena, and the major story elements are known to the hearer from other epics. Epics traditionally, therefore, begin in media res.
Telemachus is introduced as a young man who never met his father, being guided by Athena, disguised as Mentor, to learn about his father. In essence, the quest of Telemachus to learn his own history by questioning the Greek heroes returned from Troy is like the quest of the reader through the body of oral epos to understand Telemachus' story by obtaining knowledge of the Odyssey's backstory.