Love Between The Eyes Bound Together Across Time And Space

Odysseus’s journey home to Ithaca is so complex it covers a wide variety of themes. The one that stands out most is the theme of appearance and reality. It encapsulates the whole text, wither by literal transformations or by the actions and opinions of characters. This essay will look at three different scenes and how they show the themes in different ways. First by looking at Athene and Telemachus, then at Athene and Odysseus in Ithaca and finally at Penelope and the suitors. These three scenes will be used to show how broadly and effectively the themes are used, and how they often open the narrative. Odysseus’s tale spans many years as he tries to get home to his family in Ithaca. Working on a dual narrative it also tells the story of

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’.

Unlike Odysseus Penelope is confined by the gender roles of her time and cannot use physical strength against the suitors or even direct verbal rejection, instead Penelope resorts to her emotional resilience and wit in order to challenge the suitors. She wrongly reassures the suitors that once she finishes weaving a gift for Odysseus’s father, she will choose someone to marry her, “’Young men, my suitors, let me finish my weaving, before I marry’…every day she wove on the great loom but every night by torchlight she unwove it.” (II. 103-104, 112-113) Penelope’s actions are strategic and well calculated. Her main goal, like Odysseus, is to successfully overcome her situation. She understands that she may not be able to physically fight the suitors but she can trick them until Telemachus or Odysseus are able to. By crafting a lie that delays the suitors from marrying her immediately, Penelope restrains the suitors from seizing Ithaca, her household, and posing a threat to Telemachus or Odysseus. Her lie gives Odysseus a crucial advantage in the physical fight against the suitors as he comes back to a city and household where Penelope

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.

The love that is shared between a husband and wife is sacred. Their bond should be as close as peanut butter and jelly on a sandwich. Their love will be tested, and there will also be trials and tribulations. Most important, their loyalty should be to each other. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus is faced with more temptation than any man should. In Book Five, Odysseus’ conversation with the nymph Kalypso, she questions his desire to go home to Penelope. Odysseus’ speech appeals Kalypso’s values and the reader’s emotions.

The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus after the Trojan War. It not only includes an insight on the adventures and return of Odysseus, but it also includes the stories of Telemakhos and Penelope. Telemakhos is the courageous son of Odysseus who goes on a quest in search for information about his father’s whereabouts. Penelope is an extremely clever woman who could match Odysseus in his wit. Penelope is able manipulate the suitors that have come to pursue her in Odysseus’s absence. Though Penelope often spends many nights weeping over the absence of her husband, it seems as if she never loses faith in her husband, and she truly believes that he will return to her and punish the suitors that have taken over their

When Odysseus returns to Ithaka, his curiosity in viewing whether people remembered and missed him drives him toward testing people. His own beloved wife, Penelope, is apart of his trial making. Without approaching her in his true form and telling her who he is, he rather has a conversation with her lying that he entertained Odysseus. From the deceiving stories of Odysseus, Penelope listened as “ her tears ran and her body was melted… as Penelope wept for her man, who was sitting there by her side” (287. 205). Causing her so much sorrow and grief through Odysseus’ trials. He even has “ pity for his wife as she mourned for him” (287. 210). In his reckless curiosity he generates more pain and suffering upon her fragile self than deserved. Also, Odysseus tests his father in curiosity “to see whether he will know [him] and his eyes recognize [him], or fail to know [him]” (350. 217). However, Odysseus takes it too far, using words of mockery, and even seeing his father break down in tears over him, Odysseus continues in his deceit. Speaking to the extent that Laertes “ caught up the grimy dust and poured it over his face and grizzled head, groaning incessantly” (353. 315). In those days such was the epitome of mourning, to cover ones face in ashes and dirt. Out of Odysseus’ reckless curiosity, Laertes who is already old and weary has to endure mockery and mourning from his own

In Homer's epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus is an epic hero with an epic wife, Penelope. Penelope is also the Queen of Ithaca, a vital role indeed. Penelope's love and devotion towards Odysseus is proven when she waits nineteen years for her husband to return from the wine dark sea, rather than losing faith and marrying another man. Penelope's character is strong and solid, and her personality remains consistent throughout Homer's Odyssey.

Penelope acts as the damsel in distress. She is unable to keep the suitors away from her house because she is a woman, and that makes her vulnerable. She also provides Odysseus with a reason to return home because she is his wife. She has no choice but to pick one of the suitors, and soon. Penelope says she is “wasted with longing for Odysseus, while here they press for marriage”(1004). She still loves her husband, which gives him hope that he will be accepted once he makes his return, and gives him a reason to continue trying. She also cannot turn the suitors away, preventing her from being able to protect herself. This once again proves that, as the damsel in distress, Penelope needs Odysseus for protection.

On the surface, The Odyssey is the story of a weary warrior who has long endured perilous trials and yearns to get home. It is a timeless classic about one man’s struggle to persevere and reclaim the home that was taken from him while he was away at war. However, The Odyssey is much more than a simple message about getting home. Odysseus’s outer struggles with his trials mirror the inner battle he is fighting within himself: one to regain the masculinity which has been abused and taken from him from various women throughout the tale. The three women illustrated in the book who either defile and or define Odysseus’s sexuality are Circe, Calypso and Penelope. Masculinity and femininity are intertwined throughout The Odyssey, and one needs the other in order to prosper.

To begin, Penelope thinks of Odysseus and immediately lets her emotions out: “Odysseus—if he could return to tend my life / the renown I had would only grow in glory. / Now my life is torment … / look at the griefs some god has loosed against me!” (The Odyssey, 18.285-288). Furthermore, Homer expresses Penelope’s sadness by making her sink “on her well-built chamber’s floor” and through her “sobbing uncontrollably” (The Odyssey, 4.810-813). Clearly in Penelope’s mind, Odysseus’ absence is not something she can easily forget. Homer introduces Penelope as a very caring and devoted wife.

The Odyssey, A Tale of Two Cities, and Anansi Boys illustrate the theme of family loyalty through the characters’ relationships with one another. In The Odyssey, an ancient epic, odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus demonstrate steadfast loyalty to one another. Odysseus was at war for ten years and is now trying to get home to see his wife and family whom which he never gives up on. Odysseus is faced with many temptations like dilemma, making choices for his men, lawlessness, laziness, sexuality, and blasphemy. He still never gives up. Penelope is loyal to Odysseus even though she hasn’t seen him in years. She is tempted by the suitors and still is loyal to her husband. She

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

Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey follows Odysseus on his long journey home. The Epic also includes the stories of Odysseus’ family left behind: the travels of his son, Telemachus, and how plenty, of what we would now call “home wreckers”, suitors pressured his wife, Penelope, into marrying one of them. The characters are beautifully crafted and the story is truly epic. All the elements presented can bring in any reader from any century, the Cyclops, the Gods, the trickery of Penelope, and the disguises of Odysseus, are all legendary literary hooks . There are many things to learn—about writing, about the world around us, the world ahead of us, and the past behind us—from The Odyssey. (26) It is undeniably evident that this ancient text has

In this passage, Odysseus resists the urge to comfort his grieving wife, which would have caused him to give away his cover. He knows that in time he would be reunited with his wife. However, he is still deeply moved by his wife's expression of love for him. As the disguised Odysseus describes to Penelope his encounters with Odysseus in Crete, she breaks down into tears, sobbing emotionally. Homer's use of visual imagery and poetic language adds color to his work, bringing the text to life.