In brief, the outline was of the episode was about a son (Martin) taking over his dead fathers business, and as the episode unravels you learn about the skeletons in his fathers closet. This story line bears no resemblance to any story within the Odyssey, however the character portrayal and development did make me think about the character Telemachus. In essence, the son in the drama "Truckers", although out of University and a home owner was still uncertain of "who he was". All of his life he wanted to step in to his fathers shoes (Big Tone) and live up to his expectations, a typical story line where he dotes on his father and feels that he can never truly be like him. Unlike Telemachus, this son knew his father - or rather thought he knew his father but this episode was about re-alignment of who you think your are in relation to someone else. It is also about awakening. By the end, his father was not the man he thought he was and as a result of this, the son did not know who he was. So, why did this remind me of the first book of the Telemachy? We are first introduced to Telemachus as someone with similar angst, he desperately wants to be his fathers son and he is worried that he will never be able to live up to his fathers' standard. In the Telemachy, Telemachus does not know about his father, and in a similar way, the BBC drama presented a man who really didn't know about his own father either. For both characters, they will not know who they are until they know who their father is, in the Odyssey, this will happen much later on in the epic. The role of the gods in the Odyssey are crucial, in the Telemachy, Athene sends Telemachus out to Sparta and Pylos to find out about his father. In context, he must know about his fathers' kleos or his reputation as a hero. In a heroic society, the Bards sing of the glories of the heroes, whilst time is the booty (wealth, possessions, ransacked items) that is owed to a hero for his heroic deeds, it is the kleos and undying reputation that a hero seeks to have (it certainly was the case for Achilles). In the Odyssey, Telemachus is not a three dimensional character and is not polytrophic as Odysseus is, but nonetheless he is still destined to be a hero....until he can identify who he is in relation to Odysseus that is. In order for Telemachus to be the son of Odysseus he must first know who Odysseus is, once he knows this, he can fulfill his own heroic deeds and in turn, Telemachus will have his own kleos. Another great scene in this drama was when the son had to confront the truckers employed under his fathers' leadership, they even said it themselves that he is just not "Big Tone". As you watch intently, you wonder what will happen, will he burst into tears just as Telemachus did when he was accused of exactly the same thing by the suitors? As it turns, out, he stands up to them (and then bursts into tears in private). We learn in the Odyssey that Telemachus is only able to stand up to the suitors when Athene inspires him with confidence and when he has learnt about his father Odysseus' kleos.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Kleos
Whilst watching a BBC drama called "Truckers" I was inclined to think of the first book of the Odyssey, also known as the the first book of the Telemachy....bear with me....
In brief, the outline was of the episode was about a son (Martin) taking over his dead fathers business, and as the episode unravels you learn about the skeletons in his fathers closet. This story line bears no resemblance to any story within the Odyssey, however the character portrayal and development did make me think about the character Telemachus. In essence, the son in the drama "Truckers", although out of University and a home owner was still uncertain of "who he was". All of his life he wanted to step in to his fathers shoes (Big Tone) and live up to his expectations, a typical story line where he dotes on his father and feels that he can never truly be like him. Unlike Telemachus, this son knew his father - or rather thought he knew his father but this episode was about re-alignment of who you think your are in relation to someone else. It is also about awakening. By the end, his father was not the man he thought he was and as a result of this, the son did not know who he was. So, why did this remind me of the first book of the Telemachy? We are first introduced to Telemachus as someone with similar angst, he desperately wants to be his fathers son and he is worried that he will never be able to live up to his fathers' standard. In the Telemachy, Telemachus does not know about his father, and in a similar way, the BBC drama presented a man who really didn't know about his own father either. For both characters, they will not know who they are until they know who their father is, in the Odyssey, this will happen much later on in the epic. The role of the gods in the Odyssey are crucial, in the Telemachy, Athene sends Telemachus out to Sparta and Pylos to find out about his father. In context, he must know about his fathers' kleos or his reputation as a hero. In a heroic society, the Bards sing of the glories of the heroes, whilst time is the booty (wealth, possessions, ransacked items) that is owed to a hero for his heroic deeds, it is the kleos and undying reputation that a hero seeks to have (it certainly was the case for Achilles). In the Odyssey, Telemachus is not a three dimensional character and is not polytrophic as Odysseus is, but nonetheless he is still destined to be a hero....until he can identify who he is in relation to Odysseus that is. In order for Telemachus to be the son of Odysseus he must first know who Odysseus is, once he knows this, he can fulfill his own heroic deeds and in turn, Telemachus will have his own kleos. Another great scene in this drama was when the son had to confront the truckers employed under his fathers' leadership, they even said it themselves that he is just not "Big Tone". As you watch intently, you wonder what will happen, will he burst into tears just as Telemachus did when he was accused of exactly the same thing by the suitors? As it turns, out, he stands up to them (and then bursts into tears in private). We learn in the Odyssey that Telemachus is only able to stand up to the suitors when Athene inspires him with confidence and when he has learnt about his father Odysseus' kleos.
In brief, the outline was of the episode was about a son (Martin) taking over his dead fathers business, and as the episode unravels you learn about the skeletons in his fathers closet. This story line bears no resemblance to any story within the Odyssey, however the character portrayal and development did make me think about the character Telemachus. In essence, the son in the drama "Truckers", although out of University and a home owner was still uncertain of "who he was". All of his life he wanted to step in to his fathers shoes (Big Tone) and live up to his expectations, a typical story line where he dotes on his father and feels that he can never truly be like him. Unlike Telemachus, this son knew his father - or rather thought he knew his father but this episode was about re-alignment of who you think your are in relation to someone else. It is also about awakening. By the end, his father was not the man he thought he was and as a result of this, the son did not know who he was. So, why did this remind me of the first book of the Telemachy? We are first introduced to Telemachus as someone with similar angst, he desperately wants to be his fathers son and he is worried that he will never be able to live up to his fathers' standard. In the Telemachy, Telemachus does not know about his father, and in a similar way, the BBC drama presented a man who really didn't know about his own father either. For both characters, they will not know who they are until they know who their father is, in the Odyssey, this will happen much later on in the epic. The role of the gods in the Odyssey are crucial, in the Telemachy, Athene sends Telemachus out to Sparta and Pylos to find out about his father. In context, he must know about his fathers' kleos or his reputation as a hero. In a heroic society, the Bards sing of the glories of the heroes, whilst time is the booty (wealth, possessions, ransacked items) that is owed to a hero for his heroic deeds, it is the kleos and undying reputation that a hero seeks to have (it certainly was the case for Achilles). In the Odyssey, Telemachus is not a three dimensional character and is not polytrophic as Odysseus is, but nonetheless he is still destined to be a hero....until he can identify who he is in relation to Odysseus that is. In order for Telemachus to be the son of Odysseus he must first know who Odysseus is, once he knows this, he can fulfill his own heroic deeds and in turn, Telemachus will have his own kleos. Another great scene in this drama was when the son had to confront the truckers employed under his fathers' leadership, they even said it themselves that he is just not "Big Tone". As you watch intently, you wonder what will happen, will he burst into tears just as Telemachus did when he was accused of exactly the same thing by the suitors? As it turns, out, he stands up to them (and then bursts into tears in private). We learn in the Odyssey that Telemachus is only able to stand up to the suitors when Athene inspires him with confidence and when he has learnt about his father Odysseus' kleos.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment