In recent news, the government almost shut down, but an agreement was made at the last moment. The government created the shutdown so that congress would come to a complete and final decision on how to reduce the national deficit.
The government shutdown and Telemachus leaving are both a gamble: if the government were to shut down, many parts of the government would stop working, and then it would lose (slight) power over the USA. Likewise, if Telemachus does not discover Odysseus' fate, he will lose the throne, and the suitor that marries Penelope would have a child to inherit the throne.
Though each was a gamble, the stakes were in the gamblers' favor. In the Odyssey, Telemachus was not told that his father is alive by a random stranger, but by a god, and Telemachus knew this. "[Telemachus] felt his senses quicken, overwhelmed with wonder--/ this was a god, he knew it well and made at once/ for the suitors, a man like a god himself" (p. 88, verse 371-373). Telemachus gained confidence with the knowledge that a god is backing him, and also can rely on Athena as a credible source. Likewise, congress was sure that it was not going to shut down, although the time at which congress came to an agreement may contradict this notion. Both parties would have wanted to come to an agreement at the last possible moment to gain support from the country. If a person believes that their congressional party is fighting to the last second over the spending cuts, then that will strengthen their support for that party. Long story short, Congress had the spending cuts plan finished earlier than people expected.
While I agree with what most of Micah is saying in this post, I disagree with his second paragraph. If Telemachus finds that his father is dead and makes good his early promise that “If I find that [Odysseus] is dead…then I’ll come back home... and give my mother to another husband” (Book 2 245-249), he will have to send his mother to her father’s house to be married off. By doing this, he probably will not loose the throne that he has inherited from his father (if that throne was even his to begin with), to Penelope’s child with one of the suitors and will in fact rid himself of the greatest nuisance plaguing his household.
ReplyDeleteWhen Telemachus is first introduced to use, he is referred to as “Prince Telemachus” (Book one 132). This give use the impression that he is to inherit Odysseus’ role as king of Ithaca. There is no reason to believe that anyone will be able to take this position away from him, especially the son of a man who may not even be a citizen of Ithaca. When Mentor makes his speech in book 2, he blames “the people who Odysseus ruled” (book 2 line 259) for Telemachus’ problems, and specifically says “I don’t grudge these arrogant suitors for a minute” (Book 2 line 263), which would imply that the suitors were never one of Odysseus’ people and therefore are not citizens of Ithaca. While we have not yet seen any concrete proof of inherited positions of power in our readings, if this is the case Telemachus does not stand to loose anything by marrying off his mother.
There is no guarantee that Telemachus will marry his mother off to one of her current suitors. Since he seems to value family a lot (he is willing to leave home to find Odysseus), he might find her a man to marry that she likes and who he agrees with. By saying that he will marry off his mother if he finds that his father is dead, Telemachus is basically making the promise to himself that in that event, he will rid himself of the suitors, and is in no way promising to give up his mother to a man she hates or forfeit his supposed future position as king.