In her spin-off of The Odyssey, Margaret Atwood employs a dead Penelope’s perspective to fill the gaps left by the classical epic and to push a righteous feminist agenda. Atwood uncovers an entirely different Penelope than the empty paragon of wifely goodness and loyalty from Homer’s epic. Atwood’s Penelope, although waiting twenty years for Odysseus’s return, actively protects herself from unwanted suitors, her bratty cousin, and even her deceptive, cheating husband. Limboing from the 21st century to Homer’s times to the underworld, Atwood’s narrative reflects on Penelope’s earthly life and encounters in Hades with the ghosts of the past. Specifically through the voice of the twelve dead maids, Atwood debases Odysseus's actions as unnecessarily
Atwood’s “The Penelopiad”, explores the evolving characterisation of key characters such as Penelope and Odysseus through her postmodernist reimagination of Homer’s classical “The Odyssey”. Through the exploration of the characters, the reader is provided an insight into the context of Atwood’s writing. Her characterisation of Penelope and Odysseus are shaped from our understanding of the characters within “The Odyssey” and allows us to draw comparison between the predominant culture and society of the Homer and Atwood’s writing.
Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each—through her vices or virtues—helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks. 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 evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600).
The ancient Greeks have brought upon numerous ideas, inventions, and stories to the world. Greek mythology influences modern day literature and life. The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer, which tells the story of Odysseus's journey home after the Trojan War. Odysseus does not achieve his goal of reaching home so easily; monsters and gods come in his way and hinder him. The Odyssey expresses Greek values of hospitality from the customs of Ithaca, humility from Odysseus’s reform, and loyalty from Odysseus’s family.
In Book XVI of Homer's “The Odyssey” the audience learns the characteristics of the suitors Eurymachus, Antinous, and Amphinomus through Homer’s rhetorical strategies. Homer has the suitors make these speeches to show the audience the opinions of the suitors on Telemachus safely making it home to Ithaca. In the first suitor Eurymachus speech, the audience learns that he “cares” about how Telemachus returns just so he can get sympathy from Penelope. In Antinous’s speech the audience gains the knowledge that Eurymachus is not a good man, because he just wanted Telemachos dead. In the third suitors speech, the audience learns that Amphinomus likes to take the safe approach, by only doing what the gods permit him to do. In Homer’s epic “The Odyssey”, Book XVI shows the audience the differences between the three suitors Eurymachus, Antinous, and Amphinomus.
Possibly one of the greatest works of literature ever written, Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, describes the travels and hardships of Odysseus in the aftermath of the Trojan War. Odysseus, son of Laertes, traverses all around the Mediterranean Sea, because he is led astray by the sea god Poseidon. He faces monsters, gods, and enemies, but with the help of Athena and the hospitable Phaeacians, he eventually returns home to Ithaca. Here he reunites with his son Telemachus, and they defeat the atrociously behaved suitors. Subsequently, he meets up with his wife for the first time in 20 years, and he reclaims the throne of Ithaca. Throughout his journey, Odysseus displays arête, the Greek word for excellence in all things. Odysseus embodies the traits of the ideal Greek epic hero by displaying arête through cleverness and leadership during his encounter with the cyclops, Polyphemus, and he displays arête through revenge when he kills all of the suitors.
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.
Penelope, a leading character from the legendary epic “Odysseus” is also illustrated in “An Ancient Gesture” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and an excerpt titled “Waiting” from “The Penelopiad” written by Margaret Atwood with the use of mood and tone. These two sources demonstrate the development of Penelope with the feeling of sympathy and a hopeful mood. While some views are different from the poem and the novel, there are several similarities as well. Nonetheless the development of this character is shown through both of these references. Furthermore, various of these points will be explained more in depth as we go along in detail with the poem and novel.
In the era of Homer, women played a very specific role in society, and even in literature. Women of this time were basically put in a box, and expected to never step out of line. If they did go against the arbitration of men, then they would face serious consequences. However, female characters play a huge role in both aiding, and delaying, Odysseus’s journey home. I will proceed to analyze, and interpret, the actions and intentions of every major female character in The Odyssey.
Margaret Atwood draws information from many sources to produce the Penelopiad with Homer’s Odyssey being her main source and a heavy influence. Atwood begins her novella with two quotes from the Odyssey. “How faithful was your flawless Penelope, Icarius’ daughter! … the deathless gods themselves will make a beautiful song for mortal ears in honour of the constant Penelope” shows the audience that the way Penelope in the Odyssey is from someone else’s point of view and that in the Penelopiad, Penelope is going to take control and tell her story “Now that all the others have run out of air, it’s my turn to do a little story-making.” Atwood also includes a section from the Odyssey relating to
For this project, An Odyssey Odyssey, I was assigned Book III of the Odyssey. This book is entitled ‘King Nestor Remembers’, in which Telemachus and his men travel to sandy Pylos- King Nestor’s kingdom. Together, they discuss the Trojan war, specifically Odysseus’ contributions and the tragedy of his disappearance. At the end of Book III, we learn that Telemachus is setting off on a voyage to Sparta. On this journey from Pylos to Sparta, we can presume that he and his men passed through the small village of Kardamyli, which keeps the same name today as it did in ancient times. The beaches of Kardamyli, like most travel destinations in Greece, are known to be breathtaking and serene. However, the most notable tourist attractions associated with Kardamyli are the nearby Diros Caves. To plan a trip to Kardamyli, there are many accommodations and budgetary concerns to take into account, the first of which would be the flight and housing accommodations.
...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.
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“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.
Hu•bris /ˈ(h)yo͞obris/ noun: excessive pride or self-confidence. Hubris is believed to be the most serious of all seven deadly sins. Some say it was the original sin that led to all others. A word with such loathsome synonyms like arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, pomposity, and egotism was seen as one of the worst possible sins in Greek culture. They believed that no matter your social status those who exhibited it were destined to fall down into damnation. Yet some Grecian heroes seemed to ooze hubris in the form of confidence or cockiness. There was a fine line between the two that they should never cross. One hero in particular showed this sin on more than one account. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus, shows the sinful trait of hubris, in the form of cockiness when he talks to Polythemus, his crewmen, his wife, and his son.
Patrick Kingsley is one of the most dazzling young journalists out there. At the age of 26 he is The Guardian’s sole migration correspondent, a two-time author, his most recent book “The New Odyssey” being a perceptive and touching account of the refugee crisis. I talked to Patrick about his book, his role, and his experiences as a reporter in the midst of one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the decade.