Filial Piety and the Intrinsic Significance of Human Life
classicalcorner.substack.com
A remarkable literary moment unfolds at the end of the Odyssey when Odysseus and Telemachus stand shoulder to shoulder, prepared to fight the relations of the suitors they have killed. Odysseus prods his son’s fortitude by telling him (in the Fagles translation): “Telemachus, you’ll learn soon enough – as you move up to fight where champions strive to prove themselves the best – not to disgrace your father’s line a moment,” to which Telemachus pointedly replies: “Now you’ll see, if you care to watch, father, now I’m fired up. Disgrace, you say? I won’t disgrace your line!” Laertes, father and grandfather to the two men, stands observing the exchange, until he blurts out in pride: “What a day for me, dear gods! What joy – my son and my grandson vying over courage.”
Filial Piety and the Intrinsic Significance of Human Life
Filial Piety and the Intrinsic Significance…
Filial Piety and the Intrinsic Significance of Human Life
A remarkable literary moment unfolds at the end of the Odyssey when Odysseus and Telemachus stand shoulder to shoulder, prepared to fight the relations of the suitors they have killed. Odysseus prods his son’s fortitude by telling him (in the Fagles translation): “Telemachus, you’ll learn soon enough – as you move up to fight where champions strive to prove themselves the best – not to disgrace your father’s line a moment,” to which Telemachus pointedly replies: “Now you’ll see, if you care to watch, father, now I’m fired up. Disgrace, you say? I won’t disgrace your line!” Laertes, father and grandfather to the two men, stands observing the exchange, until he blurts out in pride: “What a day for me, dear gods! What joy – my son and my grandson vying over courage.”