The Role Of Queen Penelope In Homer's The Odyssey

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In Greece, on the island of Ithaka, the queen awaits the homecoming of her husband from the Trojan War. However, Odysseus does not return from the war unlike his fellow shield brothers, leaving his wife alone in Ithaka with their son. Penelope is left in a very vulnerable situation because suitors are now coming into her home looking to marry her, as whoever she chooses to marry would become the king of Ithaka. Penelope is forced to adjust to life without her husband, and in a way, fend for herself completely. This is not a problem for Queen Penelope, however. Penelope is not only the most loyal wife, but also exudes a self-confidence and intelligence befitting of the Queen of Ithaka. From very early on in Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope is presented to us as a very cunning individual who uses this …show more content…

The chief suitor, Antinoos, uses the word cunning to describe the queen after she had been able to deceive them (Homer 2.97). Penelope did this, firstly, by stalling her weaving, a task which she has insisted she must finish before she would be prepared to marry any of the suitors. However, Penelope never intended to complete her project, for “ ‘every night by torchlight she unwove it; / and so for three years she deceived the Akhaians.’ ” (2. 113-124). By unweaving the burial shroud - which she had been crafting for Odysseus’ father, Laertes - each night it was left incomplete, until an unfaithful maid told the suitors her secret. Despite having been discovered, Penelope’s ruse had successfully stalled the suitors for three - almost four - years. This would not be the last time she used her guile to delude the advances of her suitors. Nearing the end of the work Penelope proposes a challenge to these men, that who ever had the ability to string

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