Odysseus Vs Telémakhos

While Telémakhos and Odysseus may look similar, their personalities are disparate - where Odysseus has power, both physical and in persona, Telémakhos remains essentially meek. Where Odysseus shows great leadership abilities, Telémakhos lacks experience and training as a ruler. At the beginning of the tale, Odysseus shows a great deal of loyalty and pride, and does not really listen to others. Back on Ithaka, Telémakhos remains childish, passive, and his unrefined speech degrades any authority he might have had. Throughout the legend, Odysseus remains prideful and loyal, but learns to listen to his men. Telémakhos matures and begins to take charge and perform his princely duties, as well as learning to speak fluently and well thought out.

Loyalty, one of the traits that makes Odysseus such a classic literary hero, requires a feeling of deep commitment, responsibility, or connection to somebody or something, in Odysseus' case, to his men. Beside his immense strength, his willpower to uphold his promises and be the best in the sense of constancy makes his character superhuman. Odysseus takes his duty to his crew very seriously. He mourns their deaths, and tries to keep them in line so that they can stay alive long enough to return home with him. When Odysseus travels to the Underworld, he visits with many shades, including his crewmate Elpênor. Odysseus had been unaware that Elpênor had not received a proper burial, tempting the gods' wrath. Elpênor beseeches Odysseus to return to Aiaia where his body lies unburied, and to give him a proper ceremony by burning his gear and body, and laying his oar atop a pile of stones to mark his grave. Odysseus promises, "Unhappy spirit, I promise you the barrow and the burial," (Homer 187). He returns to Aiaia, as promised, and:

...sent my shipmates to bring Elpênor's body... We others cut down timber... and built his pyre of logs, then stood by weeping while the flame burnt through corpse and equipment. Then we heaped his barrow, lifting a gravestone on the mound... (Homer 209)

In Book IX, Odysseus proves that he values brawn over guile -- a character flaw, no doubt -- yet one that serves to make him more human and relatable, giving the story more meaning. After his men suggest that he just steal the Kyklopês' food and sheep and make a run for it--an idea he admits was best upon retelling--Odysseus decides to stay in the cave of the Kyklopês, because he, "wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer" (Homer 151). This demonstrates how Odysseus wants to stay and risk lives simply to see how good of a fight the Kyklopês would be. When the Kyklopês returns home, they see that he is a vicious creature, who eats a few of Odysseus' men upon meeting them. Odysseus makes the stupid choice to stay for a fight, and loses several more lives. However, he has not learned his lesson yet. Instead of thinking of an escape plan, and forgetting the fact that only the Kyklopês had the strength to open the cave door, Odysseus only, "...pondered how to hurt [the Kyklopês] worst" (Homer 154). He does indeed hurt the Kyklopês brutally by stabbing his eye, but he and his men still might have been killed, had Odysseus not used guile to trick the other Kyklopês, who inquire from outside why they hear shouting, into thinking nothing was wrong. When the wounded Kyklopês had asked Odysseus his name, Odysseus had told him, "My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy"(Homer 156). The name works to trick the other Kyklopês, and in response to their worried calls about the shouting, the wounded Kyklopês responds, "Nohbdy's tricked me, Nohbdy's ruined me!" (Homer 157). The other Kyklopês take this to mean that "nobody" has done him harm. Odysseus sees the usefulness guile can bring him. Upon retelling he states, "I was filled with laughter to see how like a charm the name deceived them" (Homer 157). This confirms that Odysseus has learned that guile works, and it has more rewards than violence.

Hubris, or excessive pride, could have been Odysseus' complete downfall many times, and leads to a lot of extra trouble for him on his journey. In Book IX, he feels the need to tell the wounded Kyklopês his true name, even though the Kyklopês