Odysseus And Penelope In The Odyssey

In these examples, Homer is intending to win our admiration for Penelope. Her loyalty to Odyssey and the slim chance that that he may still be alive are taken to a heroic level, which defy the apparent convention of the day that a woman should not be without a husband. Her cunning in keeping the suitors at bay are also to be admired, and have a parallel in the cunning of Odysseus himself, as Odysseus is also often praised for his resourcefulness in overcoming obstacles.

As the request is made of his own mother she simply abides to her son’s wishes, “She bathed now, put on some fresh clothes,” (Homer l 17.60). All throughout the Odyssey Penelope shows her strength to ward off suitors and she manages to live without her husband for years. Remaining faithful the entire time to her husband Odysseus she discloses to her maid, “Eurynome, don’t try to coax me, care for me as you do, to bathe myself, refresh my face with oils. Whatever glow I had died long ago… the gods of Olympus snuffed it out that day my husband sailed away in the hollow ships,” (Homer ll 18.201-206) presenting to the reader that she lost all desire for anyone else when Odysseus’ left for war. This further substantiates the Greek view of how women should remain loyal at all times forsaking others. Lastly Penelope is rewarded for her lasting devotion to her husband with his return. In these characters and their specific roles in the Odyssey the Greeks’ insisted upon their women to accept such roles in their culture of certain hypocrisy when compared to that of their female counterpart. Without Athena’s support Odysseus would have never reached Ithaca and Telemachus would not have been pushed into becoming a man. Without Penelope’s loyalty, devotion, and support Odysseus’ efforts in his journey home would have held little merit of reward. What is most important to note is the male character of Odysseus plays the most prominent role in the epic but

Penelope is a great example of how Greek women should act in early society. Penelope was loyal to her husband, she was clever, and she was a good mother to her son Telemachos. Penelope honored her husband and didn’t go against him even though he was gone for over 20 years. She also had to face over 100 suitors while Odysseus was gone. Penelope showed her cleverness when she told the town she would remarry when she finished weaving the rug. Every night Penelope would undo the work she weaved so she could buy time for her husband. She was very faithful to her husband and believed him that he would return to her. These traits that Penelope show are how other Greek women should act in society. The roles women played in society was that they

      Penelope and Helen are the real human women who can steal men's hearts with their own feminine ways and they never let their man go.  Helen stole the heart of Paris and later married Menelaus-the love that Paris had for Helen began the long Trojan War.  Even with her shaded past, Helen is able to live her life as a proper adjusted middle-class matron.  Penelope and Odysseus were only together for a few years before he was sent off to war and, while he was gone for over twenty years, his love for her lasted.  Penelope is the symbol of marital fidelity, of trust, honor  and devotion.

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.

Penelope is a mortal woman, the wife of Odysseus. In speaking with Calypso, Odysseus describes Penelope: “Look at my wise Penelope. She falls far short of you, your beauty, stature. She is mortal after all and you, you never age or die…Nevertheless I long-I pine, all my days-to travel home and see the dawn of my return” (Book V, lines 239-243). Odysseus is aware of all that a goddess could offer

Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.

With Penelope, a faithful and loving wife to Odysseus, Homer reveals to us how the Greeks believed wives should act. She was loyal to Odysseus the entire time he was away on his journey, and even when it appeared as if he had passed on she still had faith that he would return. She resisted the suitors on the sole basis that she loved Odysseus and could not see herself with another man when he could still be alive. She was smart, and cunning. She shows us this in Book II when we

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.

When it comes to Penelope there is much controversy surrounding whether or not she recognized her husband Odysseus disguised as the beggar. I believe Penelope intuitively knew that Odysseus was the beggar but did not want to raise any red flags to the suitors, so she conjured up a clever way of ensuring that Odysseus could claim her “fair and square”. This recognition may not have been immediate but at a certain point after conversing with the beggar I believe Penelope perceived that the beggar was her husband.There are many questions surrounding whether this is so, however there is quite a bit of evidence that can qualify this theory as plausible.

Penelope: In the opening chapters of The Odyssey Penelope is angry, frustrated, and helpless. She misses her husband, Odysseus. She worries about the safety of her son, Telemakhos. Her house is overrun with arrogant men who are making love to her servants and eating her out of house and home, all the while saying that they are courting her. She doesn't want to marry any of them, and their rude behavior can hardly be called proper courtship. She has wealth and position; she has beauty and intelligence; most of all she has loyalty to her husband. But against this corrupt horde who gather in her courtyard shooting dice, throwing the discus, killing her husband's cattle for their feasts, and drinking his wine, she is powerless.

Throughout time, society has decided how females and males should behave in society. Women have been and still are stereotyped as a housewife and being loyal to their husbands. Even now society holds expectations for how each gender should act around others. In in the epic the Odyssey by Homer, two prominent female characters in the story are Circe a woman who lies alone on her own island luring men. The other is the queen of Ithaca and Odysseus’ wife Penelope a strong but loyal wife who acts the way society expects of her.

"The soul has no secret that the behavior does not reveal,” said Lao Tzu. The essence of

She can be described as the Ideal woman. She is a wife, mother, heroine and a queen. She has a great power and very resourceful, she was loyal and had pride in her home and family. Throughout this epic, Penelope faced with many obstacles that try and break her down, one main obstacle is that the Odysseus absence and this shows her ultimate loyalty to Odysseus. During the time of his wait, suitors have overcome to her house, these suitors were disrespectful and showed no regard for Penelope.