Wisdom Duo

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Wisdom Duo
GENERAL
EPIC: The Musical
Character	Telemachus
Character	Athena
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Friends/Allies
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Friend
Also Known As	Telethena, Athemachus, Athenachus

Wisdom Duo is the friendship between Telemachus and Athena from the EPIC: The Musical fandom.

Canon

Telemachus first met Athena when getting into a confrontation with his mother's suitors, with Antinous earning Telemachus' wrath when he called Penelope a "tramp". She witnessed Antinous beating Telemachus senseless with intent to kill him for bruising his ego. However, just before Antinous could land the killing blow on him, Athena used "quick-time" to allow Telemachus to dodge the attack. Telemachus had never met a god before and is understandably confused when time is slowing down around him. Athena mockingly asks him if just standing there and taking the hit is his plan, suggesting that he should try to fight back. Telemachus laments that he has no idea how he should, but Athena tells to give Antinous an uppercut.

When Telemachus manages to strike an uppercut, he himself is amazed at him being capable of doing so. He asks Athena if time had slowed down, but she tells him that it merely seems so, she had enhanced the speed of his thoughts. When Telemachus continues to be amazed, Athena explains why she chose to help him. Having lived long enough to see "bullies" enforce their will on the weak and understand the mindset behind that, she had deemed them "filth" and would assist the underdog succeed instead. She tells Telemachus to teach Antinous a lesson, using "Little Wolf", the mocking nickname Antinous gave Telemachus to metaphorically tell him that he has more heart than any of the suitors combined.

As the battle between them intensifies, Athena is cheering Telemachus on, invisible to anyone but him. But as Antinous still wins the fight, being older and more experienced than the still fairly young Telemachus, she wonders if she pushed him a bit too far. Antinous lets the younger man live for now, but threatens him that if his mother won't choose one of them to be her husband by morning, they will get violent. As the Suitors leave and Telemachus is seemingly alone again, he uses the chance to ask Athena why she came to help him.

Athena opens up that she used to be friends with someone a lot like Telemachus. Despite them going through war together, they drifted apart because of a disagreement and she tells Telemachus that her friend's "light went dark". She blames herself for how it ended, having not stopped worrying whether she made the right choice and things between them could've turned out different. So she told him that she chose to help someone else, hoping that it would rid her of the guilt and help her sleep at night again.

Telemachus reassures her, that despite not knowing who her friend could be, Telemachus still enjoyed spending time with Athena. He even goes so far as to say that this is the best day of his life, since he didn't die in the first fight he ever fought in. He further praises her as the best friend he couldn't as for and that she makes him feel strong. He tells her that she could be his friend and forget about the previous friendship gone sour, her future looks bright to him. Athena returns the compliments by telling him that he's a good kid.

But when she uses her goddess powers to see what happened to Odysseus during the ten years they hadn't spoken to oneanother, she finds out that he's been trapped on the isle Ogygia against his will for seven years. So Athena chooses to leave Telemachus while he's going on his own journey to ensure that Odysseus could return home again to his wife and son. Notably, when Ares mocks Telemachus turing Athena's trial, Athena tells him to hold his tongue when talking about her friend.

Fanon

The friendship between Athena and Telemachus is often cited as one of the many ways EPIC improves upon its source material, significantly deepening both of their characters and giving them both more to do. Whether Athena was aware that the young man she befriended just happened to be the son of Odysseus is a matter of debate in the fandom.

It is Athena's second most popular platonic tag, both for the EPIC fandom and the goddess in general. Though some people do ship them romantically, the ship isn't popular because of the age gap between them and Athena's vow of chastity.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Athena & Telemachus tag on AO3

Athena/Telemachus tag on AO3

Athena & Telemachus (EPIC) tag on AO3

Athena/Telemachus (EPIC) tag on AO3