Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Fathers and Sons
During Telemachus' journey to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, he meets or hears about several fathers and sons. He encounters Nestor and his son Psistratos, meets Menelaus as he celebrates his son's wedding and hears about the story of Agamemnon and his son Orestes. From these relationships what can we learn about the proper relationship between father and son in Bronze Age Greece? What are a father's duties to his son -- and a son's duties to his father? What does a father teach his son?
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A father and son relationship is beautiful and fragile emotional connection that creates strong bonds throughout each other’s lives. During the Bronze Age Greece, famous kings such as Menelaus and Nestor, celebrate and praise their sons. In book three, Nestor is celebrating Pisistratus wedding with great pride. Growing up, a boy looks up to his father as a role model. The Bronze Age was a time where fathers spent their time fighting away from their sons, who made every second they spend together significant. The grief of Nestor in chapter three is a perfect example of the deep attachment between a father and son. A father is obliged to transform his son into a man. This is demonstrated in the Odyssey by the fathers helping their sons become brave and courageous in the road to becoming a man. The main goal for a father, is trying to make their son more successful than they were. Part of a father’s duty to his son is to help him through boyhood with advice for the future which will lead to a success. A father provides nourishment and understanding that will guide their sons in life. In return a son must be willing to acknowledge his father’s advice and use it as a guide. Menelaus, king of Sparta, greatly praises Telemachus, “Your father’s son you are-your words have all his wisdom (4.229).” Being a son means we make our fathers proud, which is the biggest reward a father could wish for. A father son relationship is one of the most crucial parts of a boy becoming a man, and without guidance they would be lost.
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ReplyDeleteBased on The Odyssey, the proper relationship between fathers and sons in Bronze Age Greece are relationships in which the father protects the son, and the son, in turn, honors his father. A father’s duty to his son is to defend him and save him from harm until the son becomes old enough to look after himself. The idea of fathers protecting their sons is brought up by Psistratus when he says, “’When a father’s gone, his son takes much abuse in a house where no one comes to his defense. So with Telemachus now. His father’s gone. No one will shield him from the worst.’” (4.181-4.184) Psistratus is informing Menelaus that Telemachus is mistreated and manipulated because his father is not by his side. Without a father, there is no one guard and protect Telemachus. Psistratus emphasizes that Odysseus being absent from Telemachus’s life is the cause of ill-treatment, implying that the problem would not exist if Odysseus was home in Ithaca. In return, a son’s duty to his father is to alway show respect and integrity. Even though Telemachus has never met Odysseus, he thinks highly of him based on stories he has heard. Telemachus proves that he truly admires his father by leaving Ithaca to search for him. A second example of a son showing respect to his father is found the story of Agamemnon, Aegisthus, and Orestes. In The Odyssey, Nestor tells the tale by saying, “’Orestes took revenge, he killed that cunning, murderous Aegisthus, who’d killed his famous father.’” (3.223-4.225) In the act of killing his father’s murderer, Orestes shows reverence to his father’s name. Orestes wishes to keep his the memory of his father positive, without the shadow of Aegisthus in the background. In Bronze Age Greece, an appropriate relationship between a father and son is based on protection and honor.
The proper relationship between the father and son is for the father to teach his son how to become a man and to have a positive, loving relationship alliance. Their relationship is very heartfelt and emotional because his father has been his role model for all of the time he has been alive. For example, Menelaus, great Odysseus’s best friend talks about Odysseus and Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, who began to weep because of the memories of his lost father who has not been found and may be dead. “Helen of Argos, daughter of Zeus, dissolved in tears, Telemachus wept too, and so did Atreus’ son Menelaus.” (Book III, Lines198-99) This is portraying that Telemachus had passion for his father even though he does not know where he is being held captive. Now, it is Telemachus’ duty as being the son of a great leader to chief a new group of people to find him and control his community of the chaos that is activating while no one is under control. “And now all I ask is a good swift ship and a crew of twenty men to speed me through my passage out and back… For news of my long-lost father’s journey home.” (Book II, Lines 235-239) For here, he is excepting the role of becoming in charge and this shows that his father has taught him well on becoming a man, leader, and a great father one day. Roles of the Greece Bronze Age were very important because it led to smarter later generations after the first father is diminished and it also is the greatest reward for the father knowing the son has learned from his leadership.
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ReplyDeleteJudging by The Odyssey, a proper relationship between a father and his son in Bronze Age Greece is one in which the father prepares his son to one day carry on his father’s legacy by guiding him in his transition to manhood. In turn, the father is properly honored by his son in the son obeying his father’s commands and maintaining his legacy by means of keeping clean his father’s reputation subsequent to the father’s death. For example, when Telemachus informs Nestor of his imminent departure from Pylos, Nestor offers Pisistratus to aid Telemachus in his travels, “my sons at your service too” (3.366). With instructing his son to accompany Telemachus, Nestor is preparing his son to one day carry on Nestor’s legacy in granting his son an educational journey in which he will be able to learn not only of true manhood, but of many other things from Telemachus, son of the magnificent and fearless Odysseus himself. Pisistratus in turn obeys Nestor’s commands and prepares to one day carry on his father’s legacy. In addition, Telemachus seamlessly exemplifies the importance of a son carrying on his father’s reputation when he grieves not being able to do so in not have being able to give his father, Odysseus, a proper burial, “I would never have grieved so much about his death if he’d gone down with comrades off in Troy or died in the arms of loved ones, once he had wound down the long coil of war” (1.274-277). Finally, when “Prince Orestes… cut[s] him down, that cunning, murderous Aegisthus who’d killed his famous father” (3.347-349), Orestes pertains to a son’s duty to his father in honoring his fathers’ death and carrying on his father’s legacy; duties of a son that are palpable in the culture of Bronze Age Greece.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between father and son during the Bronze Age in Greece is one that is lasting and cherished. In the Odyssey, Telemachus meets two kings, Nestor and Menelaus, who embrace the bonds with their sons. In book 4, Telemachus arrives in Menelaus’ palace to see him and his son Megapenthes celebrating for Megapenthe’s wedding. A father’s duty to a son is to teach his son to become a man and serve as a role model. This is shown when Pallas Athena helps Telemachus develop into a man. She urges Telemachus to call an assembly to the people of Ithaca, “At once he ordered the heralds to cry out loud and clear and summon the flowing-haired Achaeans to fully assembly “(4.007-4.008). By calling the people, Telemachus is asserting his position as the new leader and is developing into a man. A son’s duty to a father is to honor his father and to show him respect. One example of a son honoring his father is when Orestes kills Aegisthus, the man who killed his father. Orestes knew the only way to avenge his father was to kill Aegisthus. Nestor’s son also shows a son’s duty to a father when he honors his father’s wishes by traveling to Sparta with Telemachus. There is one main thing a father must teach his son. He must teach him to hold the reins of power in his house. Telemachus shows he is maturing even without his father when he tells his mother that it is his job to rule the house and hers to tend to the house. A father-son relationship is a fundamental part of a boy’s life as he learns to become a man.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between Orestes and his father Agamemnon was one of protection, support and reliance, all important and valuable qualities in the relationship Telemachus longs for with his own father. Orestes and Agamemnon highly value unconditional protection in their relationship because even though Orestes was unable to prevent the shameful death of his father, he makes it his duty to go to any length, even killing Aegisthus, to avenge his father’s death and protect his dignity and honor. The high importance placed on the duty of protection between father and son is revealed by Telemachus. Upon hearing Orestes’ story Telemachus says, “If only the gods would arm me in such power I’d take revenge on the lawless, brazen suitors riding roughshod over me, plotting reckless outrage. But for me the gods have spun out no such joy, for my father or myself.” (3.233- 3.237). Telemachus feels that protecting and standing up for his father is so important that he wishes he was in Orestes’ situation. He does not wish for peace or safety for his father; he would rather have the opportunity in which he could stand up, defend and protect his father, against the suitors. Pisistratus also highly values the protection a father should provide for his son, based on the presence of his own father Nestor, that he takes pity on Telemachus because he does not have this relationship; “When a father’s gone, his son takes much abuse in a house where no one comes to his defense.” (4.181- 4.182). Pisistratus feels so much sympathy for Telemachus and his lack of fatherly support that he even feels the need to provide protection himself. Many father son relationships in Bronze Age Greece, such as the one between Agamemnon and Orestes, highly value the unwavering defense and support for both father and son. Both Pisistratus and Telemachus support the need for fathers and sons to protect each other based on their own relationship or lack thereof.
ReplyDeleteThe German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said “What was silent in the father speaks in the son, and often I found in the son the unveiled secret of the father.” This idea points to the age old and common ideas about the connection between fathers and sons. While they may be similar in many ways, they are also bound to have differences. Thus far in the Odyssey, we have only heard about the similarities between Odysseus and his son, Telemachus. We have heard that they’re both tall, and built, and share many other qualities. But because of the absence of Odysseus throughout Telemachus’s adolescence, there are certain traditions or creeds that the son may not know about. For example, in book 3, verses 346-48, Nestor tell Telemachus the story of Orestes and Aegisthus, to serve as a warning. He says this because it leads to an important bond between father and son. An important component of filial relationships is the idea that the son will go to any lengths to avenge his father from any type of disrespect or in some cases go so far as to avenge his death. The instance in which Orestes killed Aegisthus, to avenge his father has brought up numerous times, in a positive light, which suggests that this was an honorable and revered action. Another obligation between father and son is provision A father is obligated to provide for his son. He will protect his son and provide for him until the son starts a family for himself. For example when Telemachus and Pisistratus arrived Sparta, celebrations are underway for the marriage of Menelaus’s son. In book 4, the red-headed king worked with other powerful men, from other kingdoms, to find a wife for his only son. He did this all because he wants the best life and future comfort possible for his son. In conclusion the Odyssey is a good guide to learning about the relationships that fathers and sons share, even in today’s modern society.
ReplyDeleteFatherhood in Bronze Age Greece, specifically in The Odyssey, is an extremely complicated matter. Between the lost Odysseus and his son Telemachus or the slain Agamemnon and Prince Orestes, there are a myriad of different levels of normality for the relationships between father and son. However, despite each’s circumstances, both father and son are able to perform the duties required of themselves according to the times. In the case of Telemachus, his father Odysseus has been absent throughout his youth, which means Telemachus lacked a typical relationship with his father. However, through his relationship with his mentor, Athena, we are able to learn what a father in Bronze Age Greece is supposed to teach his son. While Athena is certainly not a typical father figure, Telemachus still feels that Athena has, “counseled me with so much kindness now, like a father to a son” (1. 354-5). From this specific example one can gather that in Ancient Greece, part of a father’s duty to his son is to both show his son kindness and to give him sound advice. In addition to a father’s duties to a son, a son has responsibilities to his father. Prince Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, is a prime example of a son performing his duties to his father. After fighting in the Trojan War, Agamemnon was murdered by Aegisthus on his journey home from battle. This treacherous act by Aegisthus provides a glimpse into what is expected from sons in Bronze Age Greece. Once Prince Orestes comes of age he is able to avenge his father’s death by killing Aegisthus and therefore fulfill his duty as a son. In the end, Bronze Age Greece was a time when fathers and sons were responsible for each other and had certain duties to perform in order to be a good father or son.
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