François de Fénelon, Télémaque [Telemachus]

Aris Della Fontana (Scuola Normale Superiore)

Ed. by Jenny Mander, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1699

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Romance

Resources

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Recommended Reading

The

Aventures de Télémaque

(1699) is the best-known work of François Fénelon (1651-1715) and one that exercised enormous influence over eighteenth-century letters, politics and economics, both in France and well beyond. Exploiting a gap in Homer’s

Odyssey

, the narrative recounts the adventures of Telemachus, son of Ulysses, and his guide Mentor, who is Minerva, goddess of wisdom, in disguise. Visiting countries such as Egypt, Tyre, Cyprus, Betica and Salentum, and examining their political and economic conditions, the young and curious Telemachus undergoes an educational journey, that is, a moral and political apprenticeship through which he learns the attributes of a virtuous ruler. It is a work that does not belong to one specific genre: it is rather a palimpsest of multiple…

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2920 words

Citation: Della Fontana, Aris. "Télémaque". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 May 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16095, accessed 31 October 2024.]

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François de Fénelon, Télémaque [Telemachus]

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