Like Father, Like Son

"Few sons are equals of their fathers; most fall short, all too few surpass them. But you, brave and adept from this day on-Odysseus' cunning has hardly given out in you-there's every hope that you will reach your goal."
-Athena (The Odyssey; page 102, lines 309-313)

Athena spoke this to Telemachus to give him the confidence he needs to take down his mother's suitors and avenge his father's pride. Athena needs the suitors to be eliminated by the time Odysseus returns home so that he doesn't have to deal with them. Although Odysseus would most likely return home in a quiet manner-he is much more level-headed and modest than Agamemnon, who was killed by his wife's new lover-it would still be beneficial to have his house cleared. Telemachus, much like his father, relies on his cunning rather than violence and destruction to defeat his enemies. Athena can tell Telemachus has what it takes to defeat the suitors and become a man because of this cunning and the immediate hospitality-a trait of Zeus and one of the most important things in Greek culture- he shows her.