Monday, April 9, 2012
Fathers and Sons
During Telemachus' journey to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, he meets or hears about several fathers and sons. He encounters Nestor and his son Psistratos, meets Menelaus as he celebrates his son's wedding and hears about the story of Agamemnon and his son Orestes. From these relationships, what can we learn about the proper relationship between father and son in Bronze Age Greece? What are a father's duties to his son -- and a son's duties to his father? What does a father teach his son?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, a father-son relationship was very loyal and caring to say the least. On Telemachus’ trip to Pylos and Sparta in books 3 & 4, he encounters Nestor and his son, Psistratos. He also gets to hear the story of Agamemnon’s death and Orestes reaction.
ReplyDeleteAgamemnon was killed by his wife’s lover, Aegisthus. Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, sticks up for his lost father and kills Aegisthus. “Ah how fine it is, when a man is brought down, to leave a son behind! Orestes took revenge, he killed that cunning, murderous Aegisthus, who’d killed his famous father.”(3.222-25) This action proves my point about a father-son relationship being loyal; Orestes took out his father’s killer. Afterwards, Orestes also held a feast to celebrate the death of his hated mother and Aegisthus. This just shows how a son is meant to stand up for his father, and I’m sure if the situation had been the other way around(Orestes being killed), Agamemnon would’ve done the same. That’s how an ideal father-son relationship was in the Bronze Age of ancient Greece.
I agree with Hannah, but I also think it goes on further than respect to one another. A son in this society is eventually meant to take the place of his father and carry on the legacy of the family. When Orestes kills Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, it might not just be out of vengeance for his father, but also to make sure he lives long enough to have children of his own to carry on the family name.
ReplyDeleteThe same relationship can be seen between Telemachus and Odysseus. Telemachus has to assume Odysseus is dead, so now he is trying to run the house. The first step to this is finding confirmation for Odysseus' death and protecting his mother from the suitors. In the earlier chapters, we can see him starting to take control.
"Hear me, men of Ithaca. Hear what I have to say. Not once have we held assembly, met in session since King Odysseus sailed away in hollow ships" (2.25-27).
This quote, spoken by Aegyptius, shows how long it has been since a meeting has been called in the town of Ithaca. However, Telemachus feels it is time for him to step up to the roles his father originally had and get rid of the suitors. Otherwise, his father's legacy would die out.
During the Bronze Age in Greece, it was considered necessary for a father to have a good relationship with his son. This is because his son is his legacy. When the father dies, it is his son’s duty to step up and take his responsibilities as his own. It is a father’s responsibility to guide his son through his childhood and teach him everything he knows. A good example of this is the relationship Nestor has with Pisistratus.
ReplyDeleteWhen Telemachus visits Nestor and asks for his aid, he does not volunteer himself, but offers his son to join in the journey. This is not because Nestor is not interested; instead it is to give his son an opportunity to act on his own as an adult. Nestor is teaching his son how to fend for himself. Instead of Pisistratus always having his father around him ready to correct his mistakes, he was given the opportunity to act as true man. It is Nestor’s duty to give his son every lesson there is to learn, and this is one of them. It is another step for Pisistratus to take if he is going to take on Nestor’s legacy.