Telemachus embarks on a journey to find information about his missing father Odysseus. He visits Nestor in Pylos and Menelaus in Sparta, where he learns that Odysseus is being held captive on an island by Calypso. Telemachus returns home to Ithaca with this knowledge and prepares to confront the suitors harassing his mother Penelope and take responsibility as the man of the house in Odysseus's absence.

1. Telemachus’ Journey

3. 1. Ithaca
 Ithaca is where Telemachus lives and
where his journey begins.
 Telemachus’ father, Odysseus, is missing
and the gods are bringing trouble upon his
house.
 Penelope (Odysseus’s wife) has many
suitors, but she is avoiding marriage until
Odysseus is confirmed dead.
 The goddess Athena comes to help
Telemachus find his father, who is being
held captive on an island by Calypso.

4. 2. Pylos-Nestor
 Telemachus visits Pylos so that he can see
Nestor
 Nestor tells him how Aigisthos killed
Agamemnon and how Orestes,
Agamemnon’s son, killed Aigisthos.
 Telemachus’ situation parallels with
Orestes. Hearing the story, Telemachus is
galvanized to rid his home of the suitors
and pursue the search for his father.
 Nestor offers Telemachus horses and his
own son, Peisistratos, so that he can go to

5. 3. Sparta
 Telemachus voyages to Sparta and meets
Menelaus, who recognizes him
immediately because he resembles his
father so much.
 Menelaus was a friend of Odysseus’.
 They spend the night recalling the war and
the time Odysseus dressed as a beggar to
enter Troy.
 Menelaus informs Telemachus of what
Proteus told him after he captured him.
Menelaus says Odysseus is captured on

6. Back to Ithaca
 Telemachus takes all the information from
his journey and travels back home to
Ithaca.
 The suitors learn of Telemachus’ journey
and plan to ambush him. Meldon
overhears the suitors and tells Penelope.
 Penelope worries that she might loose her
son, but Athena visits her in the form of her
sister and tells her she will watch over
Telemachus.

7. Telemachus
 Telemachus can be seen taking
responsibility in the first four books of the
epic. Odysseus left Telemachos and
Penelope when Telemachus was only an
infant. Before now, Telemachys has never
had to take responsibility. With
encouragement from Athena, he finally
steps up to be the man of the house. He is
determined to banish the suitors and find
out whatever he can about his father. He
reminds his mother that many soldiers
were lost during the war, calls an assembly