Friday, April 15, 2011
Fathers and Sons
During Telemachus' journey to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, he meets or hears about several fathers and sons. 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?
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The Odyssey does a good job to exemplify how influential fathers were at the time. Fathers act as role models to their sons and can determine their actions, even while being absent from home for long periods of time. Nestor’s son, Pisistratus, is a respectful and courteous man. His manners could be attributed to King Nestor’s piety. King Nestor offers sacrifices to the gods, as seen at the beginning of book IIV, when his people were sacrificing to Poseidon. When Telemachus arrives at Pylos, he feasts with the king and his son, but while also being prompted to pray to Poseidon by Pisistratus. Pisistratus’ respect for Poseidon could come from Nestor’s respect for Poseidon, which is only strengthened when he returns home safely.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Pisastratus, Agamemnon’s son, Orestes was influenced by his father. Aegisthus, greedy for the Mycenaean throne, ambushed Agamemnon at his arrival. This treachery spurred Orestes, to kill Aegisthus out of revenge. Although Agamemnon did not do any backstabbing himself, it could be said that Aegisthus replaced Agamemnon’s role as a father. Orestes could be taking after Aegisthus’s violent actions when he takes revenge for his father. Orestes also shows how sons were meant to be loyal and respect their fathers. When Orestes takes revenge on Aegisthus, he does so because his father was wronged, and thus he himself. The reason Orestes is more loyal to Agamemnon than Aegisthus could be because Agamemnon took back the role of a father in Orestes life on his return. While he was gone, his influence was not as great as when he returned. When he returned it became a matter of prioritization for Orestes, and the true father just happened to be Agamemnon.
From the stories that Telemachus is told when he visits Sparta and Pylos, shows that the father and son relationship during the Bronze Age Greece is that the son always had great respect for their fathers and would try hard to not disgrace their fathers. An example would be in the story of Agamemnon's return when Aegisthus, a man that marries Agememnon's wife while Agamemnon is away, so that he may reap the wealth and crown of Agamemnon, along with Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, kill Agamemnon on his return. After Agamemnon is killed, Orestes avenges his father's death by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, showing great respect for his father. Orestes actions is a display of respect because for Orestes to kill in the name of his father means that Orestes loves his father and is willing to do the favor of avenging his father. The father's his son is to show the son how to become a man and show their son how to display bravery and courage. Pisastratus, the son of Nestor, shows respect for his father by following the commands of Nestor, which were for Pisastratus to accompany Telemachus on his journey. In The Odyssey, Nestor and Agamemnon display bravery to both of their sons by going off to fight at Troy. The act of courage by both fathers is then learned by their sons. Orestes displays the bravery learned by his father by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. Pisastratus displays courage by going with Telemachus on his journey to find his father.
ReplyDeleteIn the ancient Greek society you can tell that father and son relationships are very important. A father having a well raised son is the only way he can insure his kingdom will be successful after he dies. In the sinereos explained in the book thus far all the sons are lacking a little bit. This is because their fathers have been gone fighting in the battles of Troy for so long. In the case of Telemachaus I think he has grown well even without his father. His father had left behind strong morals for him to live on. Telemachaus still as a lot of growing up to do though. Whether this comes through his father coming back or him finding his father, either way his father will help him finish growing.
ReplyDeleteAll the points Collin has made are very true. I completely agree with this theory about Agamemnon and Orestes. With Agamemnon being away at Troy for so long, there’s no way for Orestes to learn from his father. So in all likely sinereos the mother is likely to take over for the father. That way the boy learns the things a mother will teach and the way a mother will lead. In this case the mother leads through anger and now so does the boy. Agamemnon can’t ever make up for all the time he miss while in Troy and can never gain back the ideal father-son relationship with Orestes.
We can learn that the father son relationship is very important in the Bronze Age. The importance of the son is to pass the legacy of the father. During this time period having a legacy was very important. The way to pass the legacy is through your offspring especially males because the pass the family name. The duties of the son are to honor and learn from the fathers. The sons honor their legacy and try to live up to the name of their father. The father’s duties are to teach the sons. I agree with Lando about the example about the story of Agamemnon. Since someone marries Agamemnon’s wife when he was on his journey, and since the wife of Agamemnon his killed by his wife, Oresties goes and kills Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Orestes killed them in order to show his respect and honor of his father Agamemnon. Respect was a huge role in the father son relationship.
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