Telemachus quotes from The Odyssey (2026)

Telemachus

Just don't try to give her any false hope. She has some way of knowing whether a someone has actually seen Odysseus. [referring to Eumaeus] You see that man? He can't see much anymore, but that doesn't stop him beating travelers to death in exchange for lies about my father.

Telemachus

I want to remind them of whose wine they're drinking.

Penelope

I don't want Odysseus' song. I want Odysseus!

Telemachus

Then why do you entertain suitors in his house night after night?

Penelope

In this world, a man does what he chooses. I do what I can.

Telemachus

I am a man now, mom.

Penelope

So throw them out. Break Zeus's law and see what they do to you if you give them that excuse. I've already lost a husband. I don't want to lose a son.

Telemachus

My dad's coming back.

Penelope

Where is he? Eight years since Troy fell. Almost twenty years since he left us.

Telemachus

He deserves the same welcome as all of you!

Polybus

Are you calling us beggars?

Telemachus

I'm saying you've been welcome here for three years.

Antinous

We've only enjoyed your hospitality for so long. Because your mother won't choose.

Telemachus

She's already married.

Antinous

Odysseus is dead.

Telemachus

What do you know about my dad?

Antinous

I know he kept stringing cattle in bad wine.

Telemachus

You had the best of it the first two seasons.

Antinous

I know he never came home.

Telemachus

Not yet.

Antinous

You're pining for a daddy you didn't even know. Like some sniffling bastard.

Telemachus

Well, since none of us can really know who our fathers are. Don't cling to one.

Antinous

But I did know him. As boys. We watched him hunt. I tried to volunteers for his expedition to Troy. He told me to stay here and keep an eye on you.

Telemachus

Oh, me and my mother?

Antinous

You can't blame me for looking.

Telemachus

My dad is coming home. And his hospitality won't be as generous as hers.

Antinous

So he doesn't follow Zeus' law then?

Telemachus

Zeus' law tells us to treat strangers as we should be treated because they might be gods in disguise. I think we've established to Antinous that you were not a god.

Polybus

This one doesn't smell like a god.

Telemachus

Wouldn't be much of a disguise if he did. [the beggar restrains Polybus] Careful. He might strike you down right now. [thunder claps]

That thunder was luck.

Telemachus

I don't know. You have wise eyes. Athena's eyes.

Odysseus

Come back as a prince, call a banquet. I'll be there.

Telemachus

What will you do at the banquet?

Odysseus

Beg. The clearest view of men is from below.

Odysseus

Are there any loyal servants?

Telemachus

Some. When Odysseus shows himself, all.

Penelope

Lock the door, set a fire, and burn the bastards. Do you think if I remarry, life goes back to the way it was? That world is gone. And in this one? They're not giving up power to you or Odysseus! If he'd return, he'd have to kill them. Like you will.

Telemachus

If I kill them, their families will demand revenge. I'd be exiled. And without me, the throne will be lost--

Penelope

Because only a man can sit on it? Empty throne? I've been sitting on that empty throne for twenty years! My knowledge, my years of experience, that's all nothing compared to the bristles on your chin!

Telemachus

Do you want peace, or do you want revenge?

Penelope

I WANT ODYSSEUS!