As the son of Circe and Odysseus, Telegonus embodies Circe’s hope for a stable and enduring love as well as a repudiation of his divine family and his mortal father’s arrogance. He is a difficult, fretful baby, and this indicates from the start that life on Aiaia is not his destiny. As he grows, Telegonus exhibits his father’s adventurous spirit as he’s enchanted by the sea and yearns to spend more and more time on the shore looking away from Aiaia. Telegonus’s true nature is ultimately revealed when he is sixteen and declares that he wants to go find his father. Upon returning from Ithaca, his ordeal there reveals how he is completely unlike Odysseus. Where his father was arrogant and power-hungry, Telegonus is confident and self-assured. His self-confidence in turn helps him to avoid such character flaws that led Odysseus to his ultimate demise. Meanwhile, bringing Telemachus and Penelope to Aiaia with him reveals how Telegonus takes responsibility for his actions and how he has a willingness to trust others and express a powerful vulnerability that Odysseus could never demonstrate.