Telemachus, is not behaving heroically at the opening of homer's Odyssey. He does, however, say or do several things that indicate he has the potential to become the man he needs to be, a man like his father. Identify at least three specific things--words or actions--in Book 1 that reveal Telemachus' underlying heroic potential and explain how they do so.

Though Telemachus is caught up in his own thoughts about his father's absence, he understands that according to Greek tradition for men, he must show hospitality to guests. When Athena arrives in disguise, a stranger to Telemachus, he stores her spear for her, shakes out a tapestry for her, and seats her on a chair with a footrest, away from the noise the suitors are making as he gives her his full attention. At the end of the visit, he offers her a fine and valuable gift, though he still does not know he has been counseled by a goddess. He has assumed the grown-up responsibility of a Greek son of a king.
Athena, in disguise, counsels Telemachus that he must no longer be a boy, and that he must travel to seek word of his father from Nestor and Menelaus. If he finds that Odysseus is still alive, he must hold things together at the palace in Ithaca for at least one more year to give Odysseus time to travel home. If he hears that his father is dead, he must prepare to hand over his mother to a new husband after honoring his father with burial rites. Telemachus readily agrees that he will do as Athena counsels, though the journey will be difficult and the news may be bad. Without Odysseus to counsel him, he accepts the counsel of the person he thinks he is talking to, Mentes, a trusted friend of his father's.
When Athena has gone, Telemachus goes to his mother, Penelope, and takes a firm stand with her, telling her to busy herself with weaving, have courage, and that he, Telemachus, will take charge of the house. Telemachus then confronts the suitors, telling them to leave the house and stop badgering his mother. He invokes the power of Zeus to pay them back for their greed and insolence and speaks of his acceptance of the kingdom of Ithaca if it is Zeus's will.

When Athena arrives at Ithaca, Telemachus is sitting around brooding about how much he hates all his mother’s suitors, and how he wishes his father would come home and make all these men clear out. Athena arrives at the gate, disguised as a stranger, and none of the (many, many) suitors who are milling about as if they own the place take any notice of her, which is a serious violation of hospitality rules. Telemachus goes up to her and welcomes her, takes her by the hand, offers her food, and leads her to the hall, where he gives her a seat, a footstool, water to wash her hands and feet, bread, meat, and wine.
Here are three examples of Telemachus revealing his heroic potential:
1. He is instinctively hospitable, which is good, because this stranger is actually Athena, Odysseus’s greatest friend and ally.
Telemachus asks for news of his father, and she asks him about the suitors, and he explains the whole sorry situation to her—how Odysseus hasn't come back, they no longer believe anyone who claims to have seen him, and these suitors are eating him and his mother out of house and home. Athena advises Telemachus to tell the suitors to go away and then go searching for his father by visiting Nestor and Menelaus (who were in the war with Odysseus). If he finds out Odysseus is still alive, he should keep looking for him, but if he finds out his father is dead, then he should hold funeral rites, marry off Penelope once and for all, and move on with life. Telemachus is really cheered by this advice and says he’ll give her a gift for it, but Athena declines and turns into a bird and flies away. Telemachus knows this means she was a god, so he takes her advice very seriously and immediately goes out where the suitors are lying around and tells them to leave.
2. Like Odysseus, he asks for advice from Athena, goddess of wisdom (although in his case, he is unaware of her identity), and when he receives the advice, he heeds it—this is why Odysseus is so successful: because he listens to what Wisdom tells him.
He also announces to the suitors that his father is definitely dead and he, Telemachus, is therefore now master of the house and they had better do as he says. He tells Penelope to stop crying and prevaricating and to get back to her daily work as the woman of the house, because she is not the only one who lost a husband in the war and they’re all moving on with their lives, so she should too. He is effectively lying here in order to buy time for his search for Odysseus.
3. Like Odysseus, Telemachus tells a tactical untruth to accomplish his goal—in this case, to get just enough time to successfully set off in search of his father without the suitors taking his absence as a kind of carte blanche to ruin the household. He's saying he's in charge now, so he can afford to be away for a while in search of his father.