What does Telemachus tell the suitors in his speech?

In The Odyssey, Telemachus tells the suitors that they are disgracing his household, wasting Odysseus’s wealth, and risking punishment from the gods if they do not leave.

After Athena’s visit gives him courage, Telemachus speaks with a new authority. He orders the suitors to leave his home and warns that Zeus, the god who protects guests and hosts, may punish them for abusing hospitality. He also declares that, while Odysseus is absent, he intends to remain master of the estate rather than let the suitors treat the palace as their own.

In the public assembly soon after, Telemachus makes the accusation even sharper. He tells them, “You should be ashamed yourselves, / mortified in the face of neighbors living round about! / Fear the gods' wrath—before they wheel in outrage / and make these crimes recoil on your heads.” His point is that their behavior is shameful both socially and religiously: they dishonor Penelope, consume the household’s resources, and ignore the gods’ rules about justice and hospitality.

He also explains why he cannot simply send Penelope back to her father to be married off: doing so would disgrace him and anger both his family and the gods. Instead, he asks for a ship and crew so he can search for news of Odysseus. If his father is alive, he will keep waiting. If Odysseus is dead, he will bury him properly and urge Penelope to remarry.

Telemachus’s speech marks his first real step toward adulthood. He still lacks the power to drive the suitors out by force, but he begins to claim moral and political authority over Odysseus’s house.