Penelope has a very active conscious and sub-conscious. At times, it is difficult to distinguish which acts are being committed by her consciously and which are being committed subconsciously. With this in mind, it is beneficial to think of her cleverness being illustrated on both levels. Penelope exhibits at several different points that she is incredibly clever and manipulative. Although, to see these acts as acts of cleverness, you have to take an inferred viewpoint that Penelope recognizes the beggar as possibly being Odysseus. The acts include: telling suitors to bring her gifts to prove themselves to her, when she tells the suitors that she will wed the one who wins the archery competition, and when she tests Odysseus by attempting …show more content…
398).” If it is assumed by the last example that Penelope may have a curiosity that she is in fact talking to Odysseus, then this can be interpreted the in the same manner. It is at this point that we also recognize Penelope becoming highly manipulative of the suitors. She is ready to welcome Odysseus home, but she has to stage it so that he can triumph over the suitors and announce that he has arrived at the same time. This was also clever because with this type of contest, there will be no doubts as to whether or not this beggar is in fact Odysseus. By Penelope setting the stage for this contest, the argument can also be made that Penelope is thinking the in the exact same manner as Odysseus, that he has to re-emerge into society in a very triumphant …show more content…
After she was awakened, Penelope is confronted by Odysseus and asks Eurycleia to move the bridal bed in book 23. She had very slyly mentioned this mid-sentence, and thus made it very difficult to notice; the bed’s permanent fixture was a secret only known to Odysseus. This was Penelope’s final test to Odysseus to see if he was really who he said he was. With his answer concerning the manner in which the bed was made, Penelope was assured that her curiosities were
Penelope tests Odysseus to make sure that he is really her husband. Penelope asks Odysseus to tell one secret of their marriage. Odysseus is outraged that she doesn’t believe him, but he tells her that their bedroom was made out of part of a tree. Penelope felt the need to test Odysseus because she was not sure it was him. She show this when she says, “Think what difficulty the gods gave: they denied us life
In the Odyssey, written by, Homer Penelope seems, at first, to be portrayed as someone constantly weeping for her husband, while being oblivious to the struggles of her kingdom. However, the story actually portrays her as someone who is in control of her surroundings. Penelope is torn at the thought of not seeing her husband again. Back when Penelope was alive it was not proper for a lady to be with more than one man and Penelope knew this. She did not wish to be with more than one man, so she used her weeping to distract her suitors so she would not be looked at with disgrace in her century. After twenty years Penelope is given strength, while pretending to be oblivious, in a categorical way Penelope demonstrates her
However, she felt comfortable when he was talking to her and she mentioned that he is the first stranger that warm her heart with the news that he has about Odysseus. Nonetheless, she decides that she will marry one of the suiters if he will be able to shoot an arrows through the holes of twelve axes set, but the axes should be in a line. The Odyssey supported her idea because he knew that he will be able to answer her riddle and it will be hard for any man to do so. It was obvious how confident he was when he said “do not delay this contest in the palace for the resourceful Odysseus, himself will be here long before those polished bow and shoot the arrow through the iron axes” (P:264). Which made it very clear that this stranger knew and certain that Odysseus is coming back to Ithaca and to save his beautiful wife. After he won the contest, she was shocked to the point that she felt that he is Odysseus. She wanted to test him if that man was him or not. With a big fear in her heart, she could not believe her eyes. She told him that his bed was moved, which shocked him because he belted that bedroom and that bed in a way that no man can move it and he told her about all the details in that room. She was surprised of how much details he knew, “Bursting into tears she ran up
Upon hearing of the travels of the beggar, Penelope is very interested to question him as to whether he has ever crossed paths with her husband Odysseus. The story that Odysseus tells her is for the most part untrue. However, he does give specific details as to what clothes he had worn, so that Penelope would believe that the story was truthful. The beggar then goes on to tell her that Odysseus is coming back to Ithaka in the very near future. It is at this point that Penelope first thought that the beggar could actually be her husband Odysseus, as she was overcome with emotions, and began to cry. From this point on ...
Helene Foley, "Penelope as Moral Agent," in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff Side (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115.
Now comes the part where he puts Penelope to the test. By sharing this information with her about her husband he comes to understand her feelings for him. Penelope has not only been loyal to Odysseus as her husband, but also as the authority figure. She has demonstrated her loyalty by being true to him for twenty years in his absence and has not remarried.
Firstly, Penelope who plays Odysseus’s wife is alone tending to her city Ithica until her husband returns. Meanwhile Odysseus is out fighting in the Trojan War and against many of the Greek God’s who are trying to make his trip back home as eventful and hard as possible; “…work out his journey home so Odysseus can return” (Homer 276). While King Odysseus is away Penelope is to deal with a bunch of suitors who are eating and trashing out Ithica, “…if those suitors have truly paid in blood for all their reckless outrage” (559). In order for Penelope to keep peace until Odysseus returns she has to come up with a clever plan to keep the suitors from completely taking over. For almost 2 years Penelope was able to keep the suitors from getting out of hand by saying she will find someone to marry and replace Odysseus after she is d...
Odysseus could’ve came home, and demanded that the suitors leave which would have most likely ended in a blood bath. However, instead he decided to be more calculating in his return. He stayed disguised, and enlisted the help of his household servants to take his house back. He prepares his son, and attending a feast with the many suitors. After much planning and playing the role of a beggar, he enters the contest to win Penelope’s hand. The suitors argue and ridicule him, but he takes the bow and successfully strings it. Telemachus order’s the women inside to prevent them from hearing the soon to occur sounds of battle, and Odysseus shoots his arrow through the twelve axe heads. He then reveals his identity, and begins slaughtering the suitors. Although he did use strength in the end in battle to win Penelope back, Odysseus used careful planning and was very careful in developing a plan to succeed in his goal. This is the largest example in the poem of the theme of using the mind over physical strength, because without using his mind and wit Odysseus would not have succeeded in his
However, his journey isn’t over yet. This last leg of Odysseus’s journey is perhaps the most important and crucial. Odysseus’s nurse and maidservant, Eurycleia is the first woman in Ithaca to know that Odysseus is back after she recognizes the scar on his leg while she is washing him. Eurycleia vows to keep his identity a secret. Odysseus’s wife, Penelope has stayed faithful to Odysseus for all the years that he was gone. Penelope was consistently unweaving her web to the delay the suitors. The reader even grows sympathetic for Penelope as “we see her struggle to make the virtuous choice about her marriage, despite pressures from her suitors, her son’s endangered situation, and her own uncertainty about Odysseus’s survival” (Foley ). Finally, Odysseus reveals his identity and Penelope is bewildered, but quickly embraces her husband after he tells her the secret of their immovable bed. It is the faithfulness of Penelope and nurse Eurycleia that insures Odysseus’s survival to the very end.
First of all, Odysseus is not truly faithful to Penélopê because he chooses to dawdle on Kirkê’s island. He only leaves when he is reminded by his shipmates to go home to Ithaka after “a year grew fat”; “Captain, shake off this trance, and think of home,” (page 179). Odysseus was so enticed by Kirkê that he forgot to even go home. Divinity aside, Kirkê is just one woman and Odysseus had one very faithful one waiting at home for him. Meanwhile, Penélopê manages to evade the suitors many times. She is shown to be cunning and faithful by giving the suitors a
moment that a sudden idea came to Penelope to confront her Suitors in all their
Homer also makes her seem clever when she gets all of the suitors to bring her gifts before she “chooses one” knowing that they are in a short supply of resources. In another instance, he portrays her as clever in the way that she keeps the suitor away by weaving the tunic for Odysseus and secretly taking it apart every night. The role Penelope plays is very important because she is seen as a person, not a possession. Finally, there are the goddesses. They represent women in all their glory.
Penelope uses this to determine if the beggar is really her husband “…Odysseus come home to me, we two shall certainly know one another without questioning: we’ve secret signs, unknown to all but us. (23.460).” Odysseus smiles, and encouraged Penelope to test him, replying that she might not be familiar with him in his dirty rags. In the following lines after she finds that she and Odysseus are mentally perfect for each other. After Odysseus replies to her question she undoubtedly knows that it is her husband “These were his words; her knees and heart went weak; the secret signs that he revealed were certain proof. She ran to greet Odysseus, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed his head… (23.463-464).” Because of the homoprosyne Penelope has with Odysseus she is still in love with him even after 20 years of being apart. This explicitly shows that mental likeness is the most important thing in a relationship. If singles can find this in a partner, then they can enjoy life with them better even more than being physically attracted to each other.
A main purpose of women in the poem is to define the characters of Odysseus and Penelope. Women's seductive natures serve as a test of character for Odysseus. His choice to leave the sexual pleasures of Kirke and Calypso is proof of his virtue and desirability as a husband. The same depiction causes the virtuous Penelope to stand out in the large pool of vileness as a desirable wife. The contradictions also have a significant affect on the poem and the reader.
...t get close to Penelope, only her true love. This statement proves that it is in fact Odysseus and that he has returned. Penelope knows he is the only one to know how he made the room. Odysseus used his knowledge and intelligence to win back his love. No other person was ever able to move the bed except for Odysseus. He and Penelope were the only two people who knew how the bed was made. Odysseus again conquers his task through his intelligence.