Odysseus's Character Flaw
...night to prolong the selection and not have to marry one of them. Her loyalty to her family was also shown in that she raised Telemachus. Penelope kept hope throughout the entire story that her husband would return. Telemachus, Odysseus’s son is also an example of loyalty in this story. He never really knew his father since he was a baby when Odysseus went off to war. This demonstrates his nobility since he was loyal to someone whom he never really grew close to. His humility is demonstrated in that he respects and obeys his mother even though technically he has authority over her in being that he is male and she is female. He also assists his mother in dealing with the suitors. He is extremely upset that they have no respect and are staying in their home and eating their food just in hopes of marrying his mother. Telemachus shows his faith and trust in that his father may still be alive. He actually goes out on a journey to search for information about his whereabouts with no clue as to what will happen eventually. When his father does return home, Telemachus proves his loyalty to his father by not revealing his identity to others. He also helps Odysseus’s plan to reveal himself and get rid of the suitors be a success. Eurycleia is Odysseus and Telemachus’s faithful nurse. She has raised Odysseus from early childhood and also proves her steadfast loyalty to the family as she cares for Penelope when Odysseus is away. Eurycleia does all she can to help Telemachus leave safely for his journey and she is loyal to him by not revealing to Penelope that he has sailed off in search of information on his father because she knows it would hurt her. She obeys Odysseus’s request of silence once she reveals his identity by a scar on his body. She also does all she can to reunite Odysseus and Penelope so that they may live happily ever after. Eumaeus and Philoetius are Odysseus’s forever loyal swineherd and cowherd. They show incredible hospitality and devotion to Odysseus even when he returns to Ithaca as a beggar and they do not know it is him. Eumaeus repeatedly praises his old king but insists that his master must be dead despite the beggar’s promise that Odysseus will soon return. Eumaeus also despises the suitors vying for Penelope’s affection. As keeper of his master’s property, he especially resents the way that they have diminished the droves of pigs and herds of cattle. Eumaeus and Philoetius also help Odysseus carry out his plan to reveal himself and get rid of the suitors. The goddess Athena is one of the most loyal characters in The Odyssey. There is not a time in this story that she is not supporting Odysseus’s cause. Time and time again, she helps to progress his journey back home. She is the one that got him off of Calypso’s island in the first place. Athena also convinces Telemachus to stand up to the suitors and to seek information concerning his father which is helping him to mature and become more of a man than he is. She even goes as far as to journey with him. Athena helps Odysseus on the Ph...