The lack of Odysseus’s presence in Telemachos’s childhood negatively affects his growth. Due to the lack of a father figure during his growing years, Telemachos does not grow up to resemble the son of a heroic Trojan warrior. Instead of possessing traits of bravery, intelligence, and heroism, Telemachos displays traits of fearfulness and cowardice. In The Odyssey, according to Telemachos, “He’s gone, no sign, no word of him; and I inherit/ trouble and tears- and not from him alone,” (Homer, Ι, 279-80). Telemachos refers to his father, Odysseus, complaining that Odysseus left Telemachos and his mother to fight his fights. Telemachos believes that his father’s problems were innate and now he has to defend them. Also, he has more issues that the gods have put forth to him. This depicts how cowardly Telemachos is because he cannot defend his own home and puts the blame on Odysseus. He does not grow up to be a man but instead a lost young boy who does not even know if his father exists due to the lack of a father figure. In addition, Telemachos states that, “they use/ our house as if it were a house to plunder” (Homer, Ι, 285-86). Here, he refers to the suitors that have taken advantage of Zeus’s law of hospitality by over staying there welcome at his home. The suitors do as they please. Each of whom are there to attempt to marry Odysseus’s wife, Penelope. Telemachos is afraid of the suitors because during his growth no one was around to teach him how to become a warrior. Thus, he cannot get them to leave because no one pays attention to what he has to say. The lack of Odysseus’s presence affected Telemachos’s growth because no man respect Telemachos even though he is the son of Odysseus because his father was not there to teach Telemachos how to become like him.