The Strong Penelope of The Odyssey
"My lady, there is no man in the wide world who could find fault with you. For your fame has reached broad heaven itself, like that of some illustrious king."(Page 289,Book 19)
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.
Since there are so few mortal women featured in The Odyssey, Penelope can be seen as an ideal figure to represent all noblewomen in the Greek world. Although women were seen as possessions they could still be highly respected and influential in society. This is shown very effectively in this quote by Antinous as he speaks about Penelope, "Her skill in fine handicraft, her excellent brain, and the genius she has for getting her way, In that respect, I gra...
... middle of paper ...
...en Skylla and Penelope: Female Characters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art," pp. 29-58.
Richard Brilliant, "Kirke's Men: Swine and Sweethearts," pp. 165-73.
Helene Foley, "Penelope as Moral Agent," in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff Side (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115.
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
Marilyn Arthur Katz, Penelope's Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey (Princeton 1991).
Nancy Felson-Rubin, Regarding Penelope: From Courtship to Poetics (Princeton 1994).
In order to achieve this, the characters in the Penelopiad, particularly Penelope, are given “new outlook and voice” through the influence of contemporary attitudes (Irshad & Banerji 35). As such, Atwood is able to subvert the masculine focus while working within the Homeric source material. This includes frequent inclusion of asides in the text. Penelope, and the Twelve Maids, can then express their feelings, hidden in the original, in “imaginary space outside cultural constraints” (Khalid & Tabassum 19). This allows for women in Homeric culture to be finally “heard” as well as seen in the narrative (Nunes 238). As a result, the conventional faithful wife is replaced with a “woman with conflicting desires and impulses” (Neethling 127). This can be considered a challenge of one of the major cultural values of the text. Penelope’s fidelity allows her to become the “epic archetype of marital excellence” in the Odyssey (Skinner 47). Atwood challenges the foundation of this idea through deeper exploration of Penelope’s psyche. Homer must use “metaphor, simile, speech, and epithet” to construct Penelope, while Atwood can utilise “interior monologues” and “introspection” (Neethling 126). Due to this, Atwood’s Penelope can reject the idea that a woman can fully adhere to this expectation. Through narrative perspective, Atwood challenges the idea of the ever-faithful wife without any change in the plot of the
Diana Buitron-Oliver and Beth Cohen, "Between Skylla and Penelope: Female Characters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art," pp. 29-58.
Diana Buitron-Oliver and Beth Cohen, "Between Skylla and Penelope: Female Characters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art," pp. 29-58.
Before we delve into the traits of individual characters, it is important to understand certain assumptions about women that prevailed in the Homeric Age. By modern standards, the Ancient Greeks would be considered a rabidly misogynistic culture. Indeed, the notoriously sour Boetian playwright Hesiod-- who wrote about fifty years before Homer-- proclaimed "Zeus who thunders on high made women to be an evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600)." While this view may have been extreme even for the Greeks, they were convinced of the physical and intellectual inferiority of women. Thus, they believed that it was better for all--...
The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece.
...ow Greek civilization was founded by women; they were the ones who gave birth to the heroes. Similarly, The Odyssey is a story created by women. The plot revolves around the actions of women. Athena orchestrates all the events. The seductresses, such as Circe, the sirens, and Calypso, attempt to stop Odysseus from reaching home. The helpmeets, such as Nausicaa, Arete, and Athena, aid Odysseus in his homecoming. The wise and virtuous Penelope is the object of Odysseus’ quest. Unlike Helen who forsakes her husband, Penelope remains faithful. Unlike Clytemnestra who assassinates her husband, Penelope patiently waits for Odysseus. She becomes a model of female patience and of female intelligence. Her craftiness is the only one which can match up to Odysseus’. The Odyssey presents a wide array of women and demonstrates the influence that women have in the life of a hero.
The power and influence of women is symbolized in Odysseus’ encounter with the dead in Hades. In the Underworld, Odysseus meets more women than men. He meets his mother and then a “grand array of women” (334). They all were “wives and daughters once of princes” (334). All of them are the legendary women who were the mothers of the greatest Greek lineages. This symbolizes how Greek civilization was founded by women; they were the ones who gave birth to the heroes. Similarly, The Odyssey is a story created by women. The plot revolves around the actions of women. Athena orchestrates all the events. The seductresses, such as Circe, the sirens, and Calypso, attempt to stop Odysseus from reaching home. The helpmeets, such as Nausicaa, Arete, and Athena, aid Odysseus in his homecoming. The wise and virtuous Penelope is the object of Odysseus’ quest. Unlike Helen who forsakes her husband, Penelope remains faithful. Unlike Clytemnestra who assassinates her husband, Penelope patiently waits for Odysseus. She becomes a model of female patience and of female intelligence. Her craftiness is the only one which can match up to Odysseus’. The Odyssey presents a wide array of women and demonstrates the influence that women have in the life of a
There are a few strong female figures in this unit. One of whom being Circe. Circe is fearless, proving this by turning odysseus men into swine and then seducing odysseus. She manipulates and influences Odysseus into staying on the island with her and abandoning his quest. Penelope is also a strong female character. She leads Ithaca alone for many while her husband is gone in an era when women were seen as weaker, or counterparts to their husbands. Penelope, unlike odysseus, waited for her husbands return and stayed faithful despite many suitors. This shows her to be admirable and strong willed, considering it would have been much easier to just take a husband. The two female characters stand out as being powerful and
In Homer's epics women were very respected by journey and warrior men. The women were looked upon as beautiful, nurturing human beings. The mortal women in Homer's "Iliad" were mostly known for being faithful wives and very giving mothers. These women care for their children, such as Odysseus's mother did, when he was in great need of confidence and reassurance. After the death of Odysseus's mother, she returned as a shade from the underworld to tell Odysseus, "Your wife weeps for your return as she lives in your house with a loyal heart, and your son has kept your kingdom whole."(90) This gave Odysseus the confidence in his heart to continue on home to Ithaca, to reunite with his dear wife, Penelope. A perfect example of how nurturing and dedicated the women were, not only to their children, but also to their husbands.
Greek women, as depicted as in their history and literature, endure many hardships and struggle to establish a meaningful status in their society. In the Odyssey, Penelope’s only role in the epic is to support Odysseus and remain loyal to him. She is at home and struggles to keep her family intact while Odysseus is away trying to return to his native land. The cultural role of women is depicted as being supportive of man and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was by far more impressive than what men did.
She is a testament to women of this era in that she is not pushed around by men. The unknown writer for a website that analyzes the role of women in the art of ancient Greece writes this about Penelope,” One of the points that can be made of the story is that even though women are weaker than men there are tools available to keep them from being overpowered. The main tool is the rule of law, but even before laws customs could be used” (rwaag.org). Her tactics finally pay off in the end of the epic, when Odysseus returns from his voyage and she once again proves her intelligence by hosting the archery contest to prove Odysseus is
Penelope, in Homer’s The Odyssey, fills both the role of the seductress and the loyal wife. This paradox is evident through her relationship with her suitors and her husband, Odysseus. Penelope entices her suitors in case she has to remarry in the future and also she inveigles them into giving her gifts. Penelope simultaneously distances herself from the suitors, delaying them while she waits for her husband to return home. Penelope uses her sexuality, the way that she sensually presents her body and her femininity, to manipulate men’s attraction to her. She maintains the suitors’ attraction both by flirting with, and withholding, intimacy and marriage from them. Throughout The Odyssey, Penelope employs her sexuality as a strategic tool, for
The women presented throughout The Odyssey provide a respectable representation of women in ancient Greece in general. There are several women introduced in The Odyssey, all of various backgrounds and social classes. The most notable women or type of women in this epic include goddesses, Penelope, and the housemaids and servants.
Women are important in life and act in many different ways, this poem portray them in the many roles they play in life. The portrayal is a generalization on all that women are capable of being and doing. Faithfulness is the quality in Odysseus that is his motivation to return to his wife who is in different ways even more faithful. Penelope represents the "best of women" in the poem. Penelope along with other characters like Nausicaa and Arete that fall under this category represents ideals for marriage. Penelope's role in the poem is the reward and prize to Odysseus' suffering but it is her virtue, which make the sufferings worthwhile. The one important role of Penelope that makes her a desirable wife aside from her beauty and faithfulness is that she anchors the kingship of Ithaka. The suitors saw that the one who married Pene...
I found that in grid 5x5 that the formula for the added value of the