Cunningness and Courage in The Odyssey
04/20/2022
How Telemachus and The Suitors Show Courage and Cunningness
Telemachus Sets Sail in Book Two
”If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.”
-Harry Hoover
There are many examples of courage and cunning in The Odyssey. To start off, Telemechus is being extremely courageous. Athena had challenged Telemachus to go look for his father, so Telemachus rounded up a ship, with plenty of rations. While this was happening, Athena helped out Telemachus by rounding up a crew for the ship. Telemachus was sailing off to Sparta, as well as Sandy Pylos, from Ithaca just to possibly “catch some rumor” about his father’s journey. It takes a lot of courage for Telemachus to want to go look for his father, after Poseidon wants him dead. There is also a lot of cunningness in this book. The suitors are actively trying to convince Telemachus that they like him, and that they are friendly or friends with him, when in reality, they don’t like Telemachus at all. Telemachus finally starts to catch onto the Suitors, when he finds out they are secretly going against him, “Look how my countrymen-the suitors most of all, the pernicious bullies-foil each move I make”. This is an example of Telemachus catching onto their cunningness, and realizing that they aren’t as nice as they seem.