Penelope In Homer's Odyssey

Despite this, Odysseus treats her well and they bond later through sharing of childhood stories. Throughout these first 50 pages Penelope often reflects on how she was portrayed by history versus how she behaved in actuality. Her reputation as a modest devoted wife was built on misreadings of the true actions of a child. I really enjoyed how Atwood

      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.

Despite these few instances, Odysseus remains faithful to Penelope in their twenty years apart.  He does not love either Calypso or Circe as he did Penelope, and thusly chooses not to stay with either of the two.  Although the principle might get lost in the tale, Penelope played the part of the goal for Odysseus to obtain, or re-obtain by the end of the

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.

Penelope has a very complex and interesting character. For example her determination to wait and to mislead the suitors for so long shows that she had great intelligence and perseverance. Penelope's wit is acknowledged in this quote from Antinous "For all the Achean beauties of former times, none had at her command such wits as she."(Page 20, Book 2). Penelope's wit is also shown in her scheme to mislead the suitors by saying that they must wait for her to weave a shroud for Odysseus's father Laertes. She told them

Throughout The Odyssey Odysseus goes on many adventures through epic lands, encounters dangerous creatures, and has affairs with goddesses. At home in Ithaca Penelope is surrounded by suitors trying to take everything and rising a son on her own. Penelope is the true hero being everything. She stays true to many attributes of a hero, more than Odysseus. She is clever and a fast thinker always thinking of new ideas to persuade and trick hundreds of suitors. Odysseus isn't the real hero Penelope is and she is much

Eumaeus welcomed Odysseus into his home; the audience sees right away that Eumaeus respects custom. Eumaeus misses Odysseus and explains that “longing for him, him that wrings [his] heart”(14.167). He has remained very loyal to Odysseus, and has therefore grown to hate the suitors. From what Eumaeus has explained, Penelope’s loyalty is emphasized since she has ignored the ignorant suitors. They are all waiting for him to come home which he now realizes since his absence is truly affecting everyone in his life.

(II. 139) Penelope is not only extraordinarily clever, but she is also a caring and loyal mother. Even when she was mourning Odysseus, she was able to raise and love Telemakhos. On Ogygia, Kalypso questions Odysseus about why he would want to still go home to his mortal wife after all his years with her, and she says “Can mortals compare with goddesses in grace and form?” (V. 223) while talking about Penelope.

She is also faithful to her husband even as she is tempted by suitors who invade her house. She stays true to Odysseus: “So I pay no heed to strangers, suppliants at my door not even heralds out on their public errands here — I yearn for Odysseus, always, my heart pines away” (Homer 19. 149-151) Odysseus’ obstacle with Penelope is getting home safely. The motivating factor for this journey is to see his wife, Penelope. His survival is tested over and over but he understands his love is waiting for him.

            Despite this high opinion of Penelope, before he left, Odysseus and Kalypso " . . . retired, this pair [He and Kalypso], to the inner cave/to revel and rest softly, side by side."(Homer V:235-238)  This was not the only time Odysseus "retired", with another woman.  On the island of Kirke "[he] entered Kirke's flawless bed of love"(Homer X:390).  Despite these few instances, Odysseus remained faithful to Penelope in their twenty years apart.  He never loved either Kalypso or Kirke as he did Penelope, and thusly chose not to stay with either of the two.  Although the principle might get lost in the tale, Penelope played the part of the goal for Odysseus to obtain, or re-obtain by the end of the Odyssey.

Both Penelope and Odysseus put others through trials in books 19, 21, and 23 in order to test their loyalty and identity. The trait of constantly testing others eludes to the little trust that Odysseus and Penelope have in others making them a perfect match for each other. In Book 19 Homer shows Odysseus in the presence Penelope describing to her how well she is known and why. He suggests that her fame “has reached the vaulting skies” and that the kingdom she has built is “proud and strong” and under her “sovereign way” her people “flourish” (19: 118-120, 124). All of these positive attributes Odysseus is mentioning serve the purpose of testing Penelope on if she is still loyal by acknowledging how these are all things Odysseus thinks he has

            There were far more restrictions placed on the women of the ancient world than on the men.  To many, this may appear to be an obvious fact.  However, the comparison of women to men in the Odyssey does not show such a discrepancy.  The women created by Homer had certain characteristics that set them apart from ordinary women.  Penelope was a woman who did not give in to the demands of her surroundings.  She suffered throughout the twenty year absence of her husband, Odysseus.  She maintained her dignity and her chastity through her refusal of the hoards of suitors that flocked to her home. Penelope represents the ideal woman for balancing her refusals of marriage and the preservation of her respect.  When ready to address her suitors, Eurymachus, a suitor himself, speaks out from the crowd in praise of Penelope.  He states, "Ah, daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope . . . You surpass all women in build and beauty, refined and steady mind" (18. 276,280).  The acts of Penelope would not have been allowed of an ordinary woman of those times.  Her loyalty to Odysseus was unflagging and quite contrary to Clytaemestra's loyalty, another character in the Odyssey, though she is never mentioned by name.

Penelope shows a similar loyalty to some of her disloyal servants by letting them continue to be a part of their household even after they have been sleeping with suitors. This loyalty to each other inspires Odysseus and Penelope to do what they need to do to reunite their family.

Penelope’s capacity for sacrificing compared to her ability to be deceiving, makes her complex. It is clear that there is a strong correlation between Odysseus’ personality and Penelope’s personality explaining her ability to trick or make complicated plans. Penelope is written as weak described by her many nights of crying and asking for the gods to kill her. This is contrasted by her indirect characterization of strength illustrated through her numerous actions to preserve Ithaca post-Odysseus disappearance. Penelope’s strength comes from her love for Odysseus and her faith. Her personality is what allows her maintain power and keep the house civilized. Without a proper guardian, Penelope was not extended the courtesy or boundaries of an appropriate courtship. In her position of not having a male authority and Telemachus not being a matured respected man, Penelope does not have the necessary force to remove the suitors from her home. Penelope was therefore forced into an unwanted marriage. She used her knowledge of tradition and customs to disrupt the suitors from uniting against her, ultimately eliminating the threat of being overthrown and keeping her household civilized. As previously discussed, Penelope used the ideas of marriage to make the suitors wait three years before they discovered her scheme. Later in the epic she confronts the men during a feast