Penelope's Dark Circles: A Narrative Fiction

Listen, I have been fooled by many mortals that snuck into my cave at night. Their ship landed on my island and have wandered into my dwelling. They took advantage of me and have done terrible things to me. Will you do me a favor, and punish them severely.

Libby’s eyes are like lying in the grass under the sky on a summer day, you're warmed from the inside and from the outside. She has a constellation of freckles on her face. Her eyelashes are as long as my arm. Also, there's her smile. Let me tell you, it's amazing, like it comes from the deepest part of her, a part made of blue skies and sunshine. (..) All this time, I thought it was her weight that made me see her. But it's not her weight at all. It's her. (Niven 375-376).

Penelope: The Devoted and Cunning Wife "The soul has no secret that the behavior does not reveal,” said Lao Tzu. The essence of

Evidence #2 "The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs."

Atwood’s take on the character of Penelope in The Penelopiad first describes her as an average and modest woman with a single defining trait of intelligence, whereas Odysseus is introduced to the story as a cheat and a thief. In due time, Odysseus leaves to fight in the war against Troy, and then starts his ten year voyage back to Ithaca. However, in the twenty years he was gone, Penelope has learned to independently manage the land, and use her wits to trick the Suitors and learn of their plans. When Odysseus finally returns home, Penelope knows to not reveal his true identity and doesn’t tell him of her deceptive ways. The two characters have flipped traits in this way, as now Penelope is the master of tricks and Odysseus follows her lead.

Penelope is possibly the most interesting character in The Odyssey by Homer. She is an independent woman in Ancient Greece - a time where that is unheard of. Her husband is missing, but she continues to be faithful. Cunning, forgiving, and kind, she rules the kingdom and raises her son without her true love. The poem, “Penelope” by James Harrison represents Penelope as a fully developed character. She deals with grief for Odysseus, and solution for her situation with the suitors.

Hello Penelope it is me Odysseus there have been some really rough things going on lately but it is starting to look like I might make it home soon. Last time you wrote to me you told me you would like me to tell you about some adventures me and my crew have been on so here I go. Me and my crew set out for the land of the dead after arriving there we find Circe. After a while at Circe’s, I decided it was time to go. She gave is provisions and sent us off to the underworld. In order to assuage the nations of the dead I would have to sacrifice a black lamb, handsomest of all our flock to Tiresias. They were coming out of every side and sought the pit with rustling cries I started to get really scared. The first to approach me was Elpenor. You

Narrator: Odysseus and his crew landed on an island that was close to the land of the Cyclopes. They observed the large beings from afar, feasting on the wildlife that roamed the land. They decided to set sail towards the land after a couple of days. As Odysseus and his

In the Odyssey, written by Homer, there are many prominent female characters. Of these characters, Penelope is my favorite. She is my favorite because she held her ground while Odysseus was gone. She made it clear that she was not ready to move on. Penelope was faithful to her husband

They were wonderfully pretty eyes; and, indeed, Winterbourne had not seen for a long time anything prettier than his fair countrywoman's various features‹her complexion, her nose, her ears, her teeth. He had a great relish for feminine beauty; he was addicted to observing and analysing it; and as regards this young lady's face he made several observations. (7)

Even Odysseus seems to always go back to her “…why was he still—and possibly always—thinking about Helen?” (Pg. 64, The Penelopiad). Helen weaves her way in and out of the text as she does with people’s lives: effortlessly and without worry for her implications. She is a constant issue for Penelope, making her feelings for Helen range from admiration to loathing. Penelope simultaneously wants to be Helen and could not imagine ever being her, creating a tension that looms over the main plot of the novel. The two women have opposite power dynamics, and opposite mentalities on how to present themselves. Even though Penelope became the image of the perfect, wholesome wife in her death, she still value’s Helen’s whirlwind life, leaving Helen to be seen as either the mono-maniacal response Penelope has to her isolation and insecurities, or a challenge and other side to her own character and

My name Polyphemus. I am a cyclops, a son of the sea god Poseidon and a sea nymph Thoosa. I live in Sicily along with other cyclops. I will tell you about how I encountered Odysseus and how he tricked me. I had found some humans in my cave at

She was thin with fair skin and had the body of a hottie." Mr. Miller stopped to chuckle at his own rhyme, then asked for a refill. "As I was saying," he stopped once again when a server handed him another drink, and he took a giant gulp of it. "His wife wore a slimming red dress, which seemed like she wore to impress. Her eyes were as dark and mysterious as the night sky. She had her eyebrows perfectly plucked into an arch. She was a glorious sight to see. No man in the world could even dream of someone as beautiful as she. The carpenter's wife had a personality that could outshine the sun! She was so beautiful that she would be worthy of marrying a King or any working man for that

Everyone has that stereotype about the popular pretty blonde girl. That is the reader's’ first impression of Penelope. When she first learns Arnold’s name, she laughs at him and whispers to her friends. “What’s your name?’ Penelope asks. “Junior.” I said. She laughed and told her girlfriends at the next desk that my name was Junior.” pg. 59. When I first read about Penelope, I wondered if she was just going to be a mean popular girl, and if her only purpose was to be rude to Arnold. Every popular girl has something fueling them to be mean, and I wondered what was fueling her. Arnold’s first impression of Penelope was how pretty she was. “She was so pretty and her eyes were so blue. I was suddenly aware that she was the prettiest girl I had

“Oh man, that must have been hard on you,” Anna, Telemachus’ girlfriend said. “Ah, I wish he’d come back already,” Telemachus said glumly. Suddenly, the door opened. “You’re home!” Penelope said, hugging Odysseus with tears in her eyes. “Dad!” Telemachus said with his eyes wide opened in shock. “But, what took you so long?” Penelope said, frustrated. “Ah, well there were some obstacles on the way back from my long and tiring trip. I’ll tell you over lunch,” Odysseus said. They gave Odysseus lunch and he started to talk about his story, “So this is how it started.”