Odysseus' son Telemachus was a small child when his father left for the Trojan War. At the beginning of The Odyssey Telemachus is an inexperienced, unhappy, and helpless young man. We see this in Book One when he says to Athena "Mother has always told me I'm his son, it's true, but I am not so certain. Who, on his own, has ever really known who gave him life" (p. 84, lines 249-251)? Telemachus is immature because he has been raised without a father figure. His travels in search of his father will help him to mature.

Telemachus grows up in very tough situation because he is raised without a father. His mother has raised him with only the "help" of self concerned, arrogant suitors. These suitors were not a good influence on Telemachus because to them, Odysseus was only a fictional hero. Leocritus, one of the suitors, says...