Penelope In The Penelopiad

Penelope was left behind when Odysseus left for the trojan war, but he didn’t come back after that. Penelope had to take care of their son, their estate, and their servants for 20 years. On top of all of that she had suitors demanding her attention. In all of this she stayed strong and independent, and despite the pressure of the suitors she stayed loyal to Odysseus, even when she didn’t even know if he was alive or not. Penelope’s character is also very clever and sly. She told the suitors that she would remarry after she finishes her weaving project, but each night she undoes everything she did that day. When the suitors find out about it they demand she choose someone to remarry. Penelope uses her intelligence and slyness again as she tells them whoever wins an archery contest using Odysseus bow, which only he could use, she would marry. Penelope is also very kind, which we see when she interacts with the servants and her son. Penelope is a very well portrayed character and she is needed in the story to be someone Odysseus could always be someone to come back

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.

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

In the book circe turns all their men into pigs and then made odysseus sleep with her so that way she would turn them back. Circe said “Come sheathe your sword, let’s go to bed together, mount my bed and mix in the magic work of love we’ll breed deep trust between us.” (10.371-373). This shows that odysseus was not loyal to penelopy again. In this quote it shows that odysseus will sleep with pretty much any girl that throws herself in front of him. Odysseus has done this when he was back in ithaca because every girl that he sees he automatically wants to sleep with her. Odysseus has never been loyal to penelopy even before the war in troy. Odysseus also admitted to sleeping with her in to book,“You lure me to your room to mount your bed, so once I lie there naked you’ll unman me, strip away my courage!” (10.380-382). This quote is crucial to understanding that odysseus is not devoted to penelope considering he is talking about be naked in her bed. If odysseus was truly attached to this woman he did not need to go around sleeping with woman. Penelope did not sleep with anyone when he was away but he felt the need that he really needed to. Odysseus thinks that he is superior to other people and that he is like a god figure but that is not the case. If odysseus was such a extravagant person than he would have been a god and not a mortal. Every person in this book thinks he is

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

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

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

Some question whether Odysseus was recognized by Penelope and if this helped to build up

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.

Although penelope show loyalty and faithfulness in both text, there difference in the level of her knowledge. In the odysseus, penelope was viewed as innocent and naive.after penelope handed the odysseus's arrow to emmaus for the suitor to try and win the challenge, Telemachus comment about her mother has no respect for her as if she was unimportant and naive.

We see that both Odysseus and Penelope share a liking toward cleverness that is very unusual in the story. Odysseus is one of the very few the Greek heroes to show that he has more brains than strength. Because Odysseus could have just stormed in to the kingdom and took his rightful place as the king and kick the suitors out but he doesn’t, he lets Athena disguise him as a beggar. However, what’s more impressive is Penelope, instead of letting the suitors take over and rape her and marry her, she told them once I am done with this quilt I will choose one of you to be my husband. But in reality, she was never going to finish the quilt because every stich that she would put in the quilt she would spend all night taking them out and starting over the next day just waiting for Odysseus to come

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.

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

I am a sucker for a good myth or a fairy tale re-telling; especially when those tales twist the perspective and help you see famous fictional events in a new way. In this case, the story is based off of The Odyssey but told from the perspective of Penelope. It doesn’t have the same grand sense of adventure and daringness; however, it is still a fascinating and extremely compelling story. Homer portrays Penelope as loyal, patient, and the ideal wife, as he contrasts her to Clytemnestra who killed Agamemnon upon his return from Troy. In The Penelopiad, Penelope feels obliged to tell her story because she is unsatisfied with Homer's portrayal of her and the other myths about her sleeping with the suitors.