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Telemachus, too, must suppress his feelings towards them for a long time. We will see whether he is as successful in this respect as his father. |
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Telemachus' Unspoken Thoughts |
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Telemachus receives from Odysseus more or less the same instructions as the latter had received from Athena in book 13 (passage 3): |
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"But if they maltreat me in the house, then let the dear heart
in you even endure it, though I suffer outrage, even
if they drag me by the feet through the palace to throw me out of it,
or pelt me with missiles; you must still look on and endure it."
(Od. 16.2747) |
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Again we find the key words 'endure' and 'put up with' ( , cf. 13.307). In comparison with Athena, Odysseus gives a more detailed foreshadowing of the mischief which will befall him: 'if they pelt me with missiles'. He also allows Telemachus to react with gentle words, which might make the suitors change their mind (2789). |
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As we have seen, when Antinous throws a footstool at Odysseus in book 17, Odysseus manages to control himself, even though he has been hit (passage 6). This is Telemachus' reaction: |
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But Telemachus sustained in his heart a great sorrow over
the blow, but he did not let fall from his eyes any groundward
tear, but shook his head in silence, in the depths of his heart devising evils.
(Od. 17.48991) |
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To some extent Telemachus is copying the behaviour of his father (491 = 465), but the reader also gets to know his inward feelings of grief for Odysseus; the negated clause  suggests that normally but for Odysseus' instructions he would have burst into tears. |
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The second time that an object is thrown at his father, Telemachus reacts with gentle words (18.4069), as his father had advised him in 16.2789. |
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The last time the suitors harass Odysseus, the father is able to smile about it (passage 9), but the son reacts with angry words (20.30419): he says that he would rather die than continue watching ( ) the insolent behaviour of the suitors, as he has done until now ( ). |
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