Analysis Of The Poem ' The ' Damned Odysseus '

Odysseus's wife, Penelope plays a crucial role in Homer's ‘The Odyssey’, with not only providing the motivation for Odysseus's return to Ithaca, but she is also the center of the plot involving the suitors and the fate of Telemakos and Ithaca itself.  Therefore the objective of this essay is to analyze the importance of Penelope’s role in ‘The Odyssey’.

While traditional readers of Homer’s, The Odyssey, view Odysseus as a hero, they often reduce Penelope to Odysseus’s helpless wife, but Penelope is more than just a damsel-in-distress. Penelope proves to be Odysseus’s heroic equal, as through her resilient, witty and strategic actions she ensures Odysseus fighting advantages over the suitors.

Furthermore, Penelope is an important character as her identity “functions as a stable and unchanging reference point for the adventures of Odysseus” (Katz, 6). As Katz explains, Odysseus’ travels are interwoven with his lust for home and his desire to be with his wife again. As well, her identity becomes a parallel to Odysseus’ identity through her use of polutropus (tricks and turns). She proves, by the end of the poem, that she is the perfect match for Odysseus as both of them share the same skills with rhetoric and language to get what they want. Their like-mindedness is evident during the recognition scene between the two. Penelope tests Odysseus’ knowledge of their marital bed - before blindly trusting his claim of identity - by asking the slaves to move their immovable bed: “[putting] her husband to the proof-but Odysseus/ blazed in fury, lashed out at his loyal wife” (Homer, 23.203-204). In his angry response to Penelope’s test, Odysseus proves his identity to his wife as he explains why the bed cannot move. When she hears their familiar story of the creation of their bed, - which only the two and a slave know about - Penelope submits to her long-lost husband in an emotional reunion. Her caution, before accepting Odysseus’ claim, shows the wary protectionism stance that she had to adopt while her husband was gone so she could protect the kingdom from the suitors.

Even as he suffers, the parallel of his grief to that of the woman’s dissipates for we are privy to the knowledge that Odysseus is likely to have once been a man who cut down the father of another home. Though the language of grief is universal, spreading itself to Odysseus in likeness, the application of it remains ironic because the self-pursuant and capable hero persists in the blindness that his own hands brought about the same pain in many

He does not like that they have tried to make his wife remarry to any of the suitors; they have also threatened his son, Telemachus. While Penelope refused for three years to marry any of the suitors; Odysseus still wanted to kill them.

Evidence showing that Penelope knows and does not know that Odysseus is in Ithaca is shown through scholars, and pieces of the text within the Odyssey. Homer gives many details throughout the Odyssey representing the fact the Penelope does, or could not know that it is, in fact, Odysseus. This paper will examine both views. Throughout the book, much evidence points towards Penelope in which she knows that Odysseus is, in fact, in Ithaca. She shows many episodes of her recognition in the Odyssey, and it is very clear when she does.

I know so well how you- how he- appeared boarding the ship for Troy”(23.381-4), does a soldier gone for many years see how much they have changed and how little their closest companions know of them now that they only have memories. This expression of the hardship for both Odysseus and Penelope shows the struggle of others and themselves finding out about their new personality. This can lead to comfort knowing that warriors back then have gone through the same changes in personality as soldiers today because of the events of

Penelope is also shown to have been very sought after, by the band of suitors that inhabit Odysseus's palace in Ithaca while he is away. All the while Odysseus is away; suitors are constantly trying to force Penelope to choose one of them as her new husband.

Odysseus is deceived by Kirke’s beauty and falls for her mysterious ways, but his devotion continues for Penelope. Kirke, deceiving Odysseus with her quick mind, says, “your cruel wandering is all you think of, / never of joy, after so many blows” (Homer 179). Kirke’s desire for the men and her persistence captured Odysseus’s logic, and he ends up living with her for quite awhile, but thankfully his reason comes back. Odysseus’s odyssey was so complex that even small occurrences like the sirens and the lotus plants make him reconsider his priorities and what is truly important to him and his future.

During his journey Odysseus used what he has learned from is mistakes to return home and kill the suitors of his wife. On the island of Cicones,and with his encounter with Polyphemus, Odysseus learned that bragging can bring great misfortune. On Ithaca Odysseus never brags to the suitors and is able to enter his house with the Antinous and the other suitors knowing his real identity. He takes the punishment of Antinous and the other suitors without saying a word and is able to see those who have invaded his house. Odysseus is able to see who is loyal and who is not and take his revenge with the suitors never knowing who

Telemachia frames the character of Penelope, wife of protagonist Odysseus, through her loyalty her husband. Telemachia presents Penelope as the epitome of faithfulness by giving her a storyline that consistently tests it. In the books, Penelope’s home has been flooded by suitors seeking her hand in marriage for years after Odysseus’ disappearance, as her son, Telemakhos tells Athena they “are here courting my mother… Spurn them she dare not, though she hates that marriage, nor can she bring herself to choose among them.” (1.293, 1.295-296.) Through the initial exposition of Penelope’s resistance to the suitors, her unfailing loyalty to Odysseus is established early in the poem. Penelope’s other important character traits are also revealed through

This passage reveals how Penelope uses great cunning and the suitor’s desire for her to stall them from marrying her by leading them on for a long period of time. She uses everything that she can to gain leverage over her suitors even if temporarily. She takes advantage of her captivating qualities to manipulate them and give her time in hopes that Odysseus will return before she is forced to remarry again. Penelope achieves a substantial success in gaining even a little bit of power because women usually holds no power and must listen to the males of the

Penelope, just as Odysseus, portrayed the great human trait of patience. She did what it took to fend off the suitors with hope that her husband would come back for her. Penelope didn’t give up hope because she felt in heart that Odysseus would come

Ten years after the fall of Troy, the victorious Greek hero Odysseus has still not returned to his native land Ithaca. A band of rowdy suitors, believing Odysseus to be dead, has overrun his palace, courting his faithful—though weakening—wife Penelope, and going through his stock for food. With permission from Zeus, the goddess Athena, Odysseus' greatest immortal ally, appears in disguise and urges Odysseus' son Telemachus to seek news of his father at Pylos and Sparta. However, the suitors, led by Antinous, plan to ambush him upon return.

As Penelope waits countless years for her husband, Odysseus, to return from the war, not once is she unfaithful. “Let me finish my weaving before I marry” (Homer 1325). Penelope utilizes all methods of procrastination in order to delay the suitor’s marriage proposals and give Odysseus enough time to return home, something that can only be done through heart. Easily, Penelope can take the suitors hand in marriage but instead, she waits for Odysseus’ arrival. “‘Odysseus my Lord among the rest. If he returned, if he were here to care for me, I might be happily renowned’” (Homer 1309-1311)! Although she is certain as to whether or not he will make it home alive, she never lost hope in seeing him again and stays hopeful that he will come back to her and fill her empty heart. Thus, even though Penelope never knows of Odysseus’ where- abouts, she never stops loving him and anticipating his return. Penelope’s everlasting loyalty reveals that the Greek culture is very family oriented. Prominently, Penelope depicts the Greeks behavior as family oriented through her actions with Odysseus by never giving up on him and remaining faithful to their relationship and their