Telemachus

Telemachus
Telemachus departing from Nestor, painting by Henry Howard (1769–1847)
In-universe information
TitlePrince of Ithaca
SpouseCirce;
or Cassiphone or Polycaste or Nausicaa
ChildrenLatinus
Perseptolis
Ptoliporthus
Poliporthes
RelativesOdysseus (father)
Penelope (mother)
NationalityGreek

Telemachus (/təˈlɛməkəs/ tə-LEM-ə-kəs; Ancient Greek: Τηλέμαχος, romanizedTēlemakhos, lit.'far-fighter'), in Greek mythology, is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who is a central character in Homer's Odyssey. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in search of his wandering father. On his return to Ithaca, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him. Then father and son slew the suitors who had gathered around Penelope. According to later tradition, Telemachus married Circe after Odysseus's death.

The first four books of the Odyssey focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father, who has yet to return home from the Trojan War, and are traditionally given the title the Telemachy.[1]

  1. ^ The Odyssey. George Herbert Palmer, 1921, prose.