How old is Telemachus in The Odyssey?

He is about twenty. He was a baby when Odysseus left for Troy, and his father has been gone for twenty years.

Where does Telemachus go to find his father?

He sails to Pylos to see King Nestor and then travels on to Sparta to see King Menelaus, who tells him Odysseus is alive.

When does Telemachus meet his father again?

In the hut of Eumaeus the swineherd, after Telemachus returns from Sparta. Athena lets Odysseus drop his beggar disguise, and father and son weep together.

From The Odyssey

Telemachus

Odysseus’s son • Brave and true

A thoughtful young prince who finds his courage and sails across the sea in search of news of his lost father.

Who is Telemachus?

Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope. He was a baby when his father left for the war, and he grows up in a palace overrun by greedy suitors. With help from the goddess Athena, he finds his courage, sails off to look for news of his father and stands beside him when he comes home.

Telemachus is a character in The Odyssey, the ancient Greek poem by Homer, retold for ages 6–9 by Sean Lee.

What is Telemachus like?

brave
loyal
thoughtful

Telemachus’s story

At the start of the poem Telemachus is about twenty, and he feels helpless as the suitors eat his family’s food and court his mother. Athena visits him disguised as a family friend and tells him to call a meeting of the island’s elders and then sail off for news of his father.

He travels to Pylos to see wise old King Nestor, and then to Sparta, where King Menelaus tells him that Odysseus is alive and held on Calypso’s island. Meanwhile the suitors plot to ambush his ship on the way home, but Athena guides him safely back to Ithaca, where he goes first to the hut of Eumaeus the swineherd.

There he meets an old beggar who turns out to be his father. Together they make a plan. Telemachus keeps the secret, takes the weapons out of the great hall and nearly strings the great bow himself before his father signals him to stop. When the fight with the suitors begins, Telemachus stands at his father’s side.

“It is a wise child that knows his own father.”

Telemachus, speaking to Athena, disguised as a traveler, about the father he cannot remember, in Samuel Butler’s translation. From the original ancient Greek poem by Homer.

A moment to remember

When the suitors laugh at the old beggar for asking to try the bow, Telemachus steps between them and says the stranger deserves his fair turn.

Odysseus: father
Penelope: mother
Athena: goddess who guides him
Eumaeus: loyal friend and servant
Antinous: suitor who plots against him

Talk about it

Telemachus grew braver as the story went on. What is something that used to scare you but doesn’t anymore?

Questions about Telemachus

How old is Telemachus in The Odyssey?: He is about twenty. He was a baby when Odysseus left for Troy, and his father has been gone for twenty years.
Where does Telemachus go to find his father?: He sails to Pylos to see King Nestor and then travels on to Sparta to see King Menelaus, who tells him Odysseus is alive.
When does Telemachus meet his father again?: In the hut of Eumaeus the swineherd, after Telemachus returns from Sparta. Athena lets Odysseus drop his beggar disguise, and father and son weep together.