e Odyssey written by Homer is an epic poem that follows a god named Odysseus on his journey home. On his way home he is faced with the wrath of Poseidon alongside mythical monsters while his wife Penelope and son Telemachus deal with stubborn suitors who want to marry Penelope. While Odysseus is on his 20 year voyage, Penelope awaits his return. Penelope's cleverness allows her to stall the suitors from marrying her, and she never gives up hope that Odysseus will eventually return and simply waits patiently. With these character traits, I feel most alike to Penelope because she's a faithful and patient person. Penelope manages to stay faithful, even while her husband has been gone for such a long time and she has a line of men begging her …show more content…
Penelope is very patient, as she waited 20 years until her husband finally returned home and back to her. When Agamemnon is talking about Penelope, he says “What good sense resided in your Pennelope – how well Icarus's daughter remembered you, Odysseus, the man she married once!The fame of her great virtue will never die. The immortal gods will lift a song for all mankind, a glorious song in praise of self-possessed Penelope.” (book 24 215-220). Agamemnon is praising Penelope for how well she had held herself together for all those years, as well as for how faithful she had been to Odysseus all that time. I too like to remain patient, because if you complete tasks in a rush, the end result may not come out as good as it could have been had you just taken the time to really think things out and process your thoughts. In another scene, penelope says “All the nobles who rule the islands about... they caught me against my will, they lay waste my house... I yearn for Odysseus, always, my heart pines away.” (book 19 lines 141-145). This quote shows how penelope will wait for Odysseus no matter how long it takes, truly demonstrating the amount of patience and understanding she holds within. If I have to do my family or even friend a favor, I do it patiently and gladly, knowing that I am helping someone that day, no matter how small the act of kindness may be. Penelope
She could have moved on after a little while, but she didn’t marry any of the suitors that were trying to court her; instead she was hopeful and believed that Odysseus could come back after 20 years. In the story, while Odysseus is gone, many suitors have come to try to court his wife, Penelope. But, Penelope doesn’t want to marry any of the suitors, she wants to marry Odysseus. When Odysseus, described as a beggar, comes to his house, Penelope immediately wanted her maid to “go get that man…[because]he may have heard rumors about Odysseus,” (Homer 1282-1285). The quotation proves that Penelope is an optimist because you can infer that when new people come, the first thing Penelope does is ask them whether they have seen or known Odysseus, because she doesn’t know anything about the beggar that makes him special to ask him about Odysseus, which shows that Odysseus is in her thoughts, and that she has hope that he can come home. Penelope is an optimist because she kept hope that Odysseus would come home
In Homer's epic The Odyssey, Odysseus returns to the island of Ithaka disguised as a beggar. He reveals his real identity to his son, Telemakhos, as well as a few others who he would need to help kill the suitors. However, Odysseus does not reveal himself to his wife, Penelope. She recognizes the beggar as her long lost husband and chooses not to unveil his true identity. Penelope does this because she realized that her husband would be in danger, in his current surroundings, if she was to reveal who he really was. Therefore she acts as if she does not know the beggar is Odysseus. However, it is portrayed subtly in the book that she does indeed know that the beggar is her husband.
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...
She is loyal, having waited for Odysseus for twenty years, not remarrying, though she thought he was gone for good. She also plays a much more active role in the marriage she has with Odysseus. Perhaps the most defining characteristics attributed to Penelope involve her role as a woman, in marriage and as a presumed “widow”. First, there seems to be a double standard, like described in Calypso’s case, between the loyalty of Penelope and the loyalty of Odysseus. Penelope is physically and emotionally loyal to Odysseus, while Odysseus is only emotionally loyal, meaning he has had sexual relations with other women within the twenty years he has been gone. During this time period in Greek culture, this was not frowned upon and was quite normal, suggesting that women were held to a different standard than men. In addition, as Penelope is presumed to be a widow, at least by the suitors, she is prized solely for her beauty. The suitors speak only of her beauty and none of her intelligence or of her personality or soul. This suggests that marriage was not always about love, and that women were judged and valued merely for their beauty. This idea further proves the act of sexualizing women during this
Shown by her consistent weaving and unweaving of the shroud, Penelope has an internal debate with herself about marrying or not marrying a suitor. This can be compared to the way Odysseus returns home, which is in a zigzagging pattern, sometimes closer to home, sometimes farther away. He had almost gotten to Ithaca when his crew opened the bag of winds given to Odysseus by Aeolus. The large gust of wind, once again, threw them off course. Parallel to that situation is when Penelope was completely headstrong and close minded about not wanting to marry a suitor. She had little to no doubt that Odysseus was coming back but something abruptly changed her mind and she finished the
In Homer’s account, Odysseus is coming home to Ithaca from the Trojan War but along the way he faces many challenges and obstacles from the sea and land. Odysseus and his crews were held captive in a Cyclops cave, angered Poseidon, the god of the sea, trapped in island of sorceress Circe and had a few bad lucks and ended up seven more years as prisoners on Kalypso’s island. Penelope, on the other hand, is a faithful wife who waits for Odysseus to return home for 20 years despite having her house invaded by more than 100 suitors with one she has to marry. However on Ovid’s account, Penelope does not appear to be the heroine of epic but instead as the mournful lover. Both Homer and Ovid’s accounts have similarities on how Odysseus and Penelope are alike in their way of defending themselves against the enemy and that they refused to give up and their determination kept them focused on achieving their goal.
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.
One important characteristic that Penelope and Odysseus share is their loyalty to each other. Odysseus failed to return home seven years after the Trojan war. Because he is assumed dead, 108 wealthy noblemen and princes invade his palace and refuse to leave until Penelope has married one of them. By marrying her, the suitors hope to gain control over Odysseus’s wealth and power. However, Penelope remains faithful to Odysseus. But, as a woman, she is powerless to remove the suitors from the palace. And without a man in the household, she is subject to her father’s decisions. However, despite his wish for her to remarry, Penelope clings to the hope of Odysseus’s return and remains faithful to him. She waits and gathers information by asking strangers who arrive in Ithaca about Odysseus. She goes through the stories of their encounter point by point, and asks about every detail while tears stream down her eyes. Although the suitors promise her a secure future, Penelope continues to wait for Odysseus. Without Odysseus, she does not believe that she will ever be happy again.
While the relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhos is a blind love, the relationship between Odysseus and Penelope is a love between two people who just want to be together. Odysseus shows his love towards Penelope throughout the Odyssey. In spite of the fact that Odysseus has been gone for twenty years, he never forgets his wife back in Ithaca. One example of how much he wanted to go home was when he went to the island of the Lotus-Eaters. He could have stayed on the island of the Lotus-Eaters where everything he ever wanted was there, but the thing he wanted the most was to be with his wife. Penelope likewise displays this kind of love towards Odysseus.
She is faithful to Odysseus for twenty years, devoted, and loving. Yet she is also strong, clever, and crafty. Penelope is so faithful, that she would rather die than never see Odysseus again, "How I wish chaste Artemis would give me a death so soft, and now, so I would not go on in my heart grieving all my life, and longing for love of a husband excellent in every virtue.” While some might consider this problematic, Penelope is faithful out of her Penelope devises brilliant plans to buy herself time for Odysseus to come home, such as her scheme with the loom and the contest she creates, which she knows only her husband can accomplish. Despite everything, Odysseus and Penelope have a strong relationship. When Odysseus is captured and tempted by Calypso in book five, he decides to go back home with Penelope. Calypso tries to change his mind, yet he says, “Don't be angry with me, please. All that you say is true, how well I know. Look at my wise Penelope. She falls far short of you, your beauty, stature.” This illustrates that Odysseus is truly in love with Penelope. He loves her for more than her looks and he doesn't mind if she isn´t more beautiful than Calypso or if she has gotten
Penelope is the most important female character in the epic because Odysseus ' homecoming is centered on reconnecting with her. Ten years has past and Odysseus has still not returned from the war and is seemingly dead. Many suitors desire to replace him, by taking Penelope 's hand in marriage and Odysseus ' property. While unsure of Penelope 's attitude towards these suitors, readers are constantly reminded of her faithfulness to Odysseus. Although Odysseus does not know whether Penelope remains faithful to him, he still yearns to come home. “The expectations and limitations of the male and female roles in the Odyssey are accepted and never questioned”. (Whittaker 40) Society expects women in Penelope’s position to remain devoted to their significant other even after all these years and not knowing whether or not he is alive but are more forgiving to men who commit adultery like Odysseus. This situation once again brings up the question of a double standard modeled in The
Then there is Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. She is depicted as an individual. Homer makes her character appear very clever and also very loyal. Never once during Odysseus twenty years of absence does she remarry. She tolerates the suitors in her home for ten years but never chooses, always with the hope that her first husband, Odysseus, will return.
The tone in the beginning of this book is very frantic; it starts out with Eurycleia rushing through the hallways and into Penelope’s room to inform her of the good news. The old nurse tells Penelope that Odysseus is indeed back home to Ithaca. At first Penelope couldn’t believe it but when she was reassured she cry tears of joy. The tone then shifts to a calmer one, even a little harsh. When Penelope sees Odysseus in person she seems to show no emotion at all. The reason for all this is because she fears the Gods are playing a trick on her or maybe Odysseus is no longer the man he used to be. With these assumptions she keeps a distance from her husband. But then Odysseus proves himself to his wife by describing their bedstead in deep detail, with this Penelope is reassure that Odysseus has not changed after all these years. The tone then changes to a more happy and joyful one to go along with their reunion as husband and wife.
Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek story that follows the journey of its primary character, Odysseus, back to his home in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus encounters many challenges in his journey home, from encounters with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the witch Circe and even the ghosts of dead Greeks. Meanwhile, his household in Ithaca is being threatened by suitors of his wife, Penelope, all wanting to inherit Odysseus’ possessions in the belief that he was already dead. Like many epic heroes, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities. Three good characteristics of Odysseus are—cleverness, bravery and strength—here are some supporting instances from the epic that demonstrates Odysseus possession of such characteristics.