Never-Ending Loyalty In Homer's Odyssey

392 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of the Odyssey by Homer

Never-Ending Loyalty In The Odyssey (Part 2) by Homer, Penelope’s actions reveal that when one has loyalty to someone, nothing, not even possible death, will break the bond of love and trust between them. In the “Odysseus and Penelope” section of the epic, Penelope’s reaction to a rumor about Odysseus’s return reveals that over twenty years, she has remained loyal, and very cautious regarding the men that try to enter her life. When Odysseus returns, and attempts to persuade his loving wife that he is who he claims he is, Penelope is confused and very cautious. Because Odysseus leaves Penelope for twenty years to go to war, Penelope has learned to “...[arm] [herself]/ ...against the frauds of men,/ imposters who might come- and all those many/ whose underhanded ways bring evil on” and remain faithful to Odysseus (1398-1401). Despite all that Penelope goes though including grieving, denial, and hatred, she keeps the love between her and Odysseus alive within her. Though …show more content…

In “The Test of the Great Bow” section, when Penelope must prepare for her suitors’ contest for her heart, she retrieves his bow from the store room. When she does this, Penelope “[draws] her husband’s great bow out, and[sobs]/ and [bites] her lip and [lets] the salt tears flow” because she misses her husband and everything that belongs to him (1098-1099). These emotions expressed by Penelope reveal that over the past twenty years, her loyalty has not been shaken even though she may grieve. Her love of Odysseus is so strong that she will surpass the doubts within her to remain calm for her kingdom and for herself. The entirety of the struggles that Penelope goes through never cause her to give into the suitors, or give up on her kingdom. The loyalty, love, and trust between Odysseus and Penelope is too strong to be broken by grief, or even

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Loyalty In The Odyssey

    314 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the story The Odyssey, Odysseus showed many traits. I believe the most important trait he showed was loyalty. He showed it in multiple situations. Odysseus showed loyalty when dealing with the sirens, the louts eaters, and the cyclops.

    Read More

  • Loyalty In The Odyssey

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    A very obvious example of loyalty is, Penelope. She is faithful to Odysseus for over 20 years and does not give up for long time. Even when the suitors came to her house and ate her food and overstayed their welcome she did not budge and still stayed faithful to Odysseus for the whole time he was gone. She told the suitors that when she finished her tapestry she would choose who she wants to marry, but every night she would undo a piece of the tapestry just so it would take longer and it would give Odysseus more time to come back just so she would not have to choose one of the suitors.

    Read More

  • Optimism In The Odyssey

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Loyalty Conflicts between Family and State in Homer’s Odyssey, and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and

    3107 Words  | 7 Pages

    Loyalty Conflicts between Family and State in Homer’s Odyssey, and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Antigone

    Read More

  • The Characteristics Of Odysseus And Penelope In Homer

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...lyphemus knows who blinded him so Odysseus calls back to the Cyclops to tell him that his name is Odysseus despite his men begging him not to. Because of his arrogance Poseidon punished Odysseus and his men and delayed their journey back home and caused a storm that made Odysseus shipwrecked. His arrogance also portrayed by Homer when he decided to listen to the Sirens instead of putting wax in his ears. He took a risky decision and his decision could have put him and his men in harms way. In contrast, throughout the story, Penelope appears to be humble. Instead of acting like Odysseus, Penelope never intends to make her name well known throughout the suitors. Instead she stays calm and encourages the suitors to stay home and make them think that they are welcome. Of course she hate the suitors but she never tells them to leave. This behavior contrast with Odysseus.

    Read More

  • Penelope and Odysseus, Ideal for Each Other

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Loyalty As Depicted In Homer's The Odyssey

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem, “The Odyssey”, by Homer, was written around 720 B.C. just before the downfall of Samaria. It had been ten years since the fall of Troy when Calypso was forced to let Odysseus leave her island. Poseidon attempted to stop Odysseus by delivering a storm to him to demolish his boat because earlier in Odysseus’s travels he blinded Polyphemus, Poseidon’s son. He spends the entire middle portion of the poem telling the Phaeacians his story about the cyclops, Scylla, the lotus eaters, his temptation to listen to the sirens’ song, and his stay with the Circe, the witch goddess. By the time he finishes his story he is back home in Ithaca where he plans to deal with the suitors once and for all.

    Read More

  • Loyalty In The Odyssey

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 490 B.C, King Darius made his final push towards Athens. The Athenians were waiting for the Persians to arrive, ready to fight. It seemed crazy for Athens to retaliate against the Persians at this point. Historians still wonder why the Athenians and their 10,000 soldiers stood up to the Persians and their 25,000 soldiers, but this is because of their gallantry. The Athenians valued pride over cowardice.. Athenian men, since childhood, were inspired by tales of the Odyssey, Iliad, etc, and were taught to never turn their back on their country in times of hardships. These books and their upbringing, not only instilled a sense of nationalism, patriotism, and loyalty, but also them strive for fame achievable during war. Although it might have seemed foolish to fight the Persians, the Athenians were intelligent; in fact, they were relying on their strategic intelligence to overcome the difference in their army size. Ultimately, loyalty and the desire for fame inspired the Athenians to take such bold actions. These traits coupled with their intelligence led to the Athenians’ victory.

    Read More

  • Relationships In The Odyssey

    406 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Does Odysseus Feel Connected To Penelope

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Examples Of Sexism In The Odyssey

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On The Relationship Between Hamlet And Horatio

    1760 Words  | 4 Pages

    The relationship between Odysseus and his wife Penelope is one of loyalty, love, and faith. Both characters are driven by these characteristics. Odysseus displays his loyalty in his constant battle to get home to his wife. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Odysseus spent 20 years trying to return to his home in Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War. Along the way he manages to offend both gods and mortals, but through his intelligence, and the guidance of Athena, he manages to finally return home. There he discovers that his home has been overrun by suitors attempting to win Penelope’s hand in marriage. The suitors believed that Odysseus was dead. Odysseus and his son, Telemachus,

    Read More

  • The Folly Of Human Nature In Homer's Odyssey

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Ancient Greeks sought to define how humans should view their lives and how to create an existence dedicated to the basis of the “ideal” nature. This existence would be lived so as to create an “honorable” death upon their life’s end. Within their plays, both dramas and comedies, they sought to show the most extreme characteristics of human nature, those of the wise and worthy of Greek kleos along with the weak and greedy of mind, and how they were each entitled to a death but of varying significance. The Odyssey, their greatest surviving drama, stands as the epitome of defining both the flawed and ideal human and how each individual should approach death and its rewards and cautions through their journeys. Death is shown to be the consequence

    Read More

  • Essay About Love in Homer's Odyssey

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are many essential emotions that form the building blocks of our lives.  These emotions help to shape the people that we are. These feelings are emotional necessities to ultimately keep us happy.  No piece of literature these feelings more evident than the Odyssey by Homer.  Throughout the course of this book there is one major emotional theme: love.

    Read More

  • The Role of Loyalty in The Odyssey

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Odysseus and Penelope have a strong love towards one-another. Odysseus would not give up on fighting for eventually getting back to both Penelope and Ithaca. They are a married couple which is what makes them so much more attached and loyal to each other. Penelope has had many opportunities to re-marry after her husband left for 20 years. Odysseus also let down the opportunity on living an immortal life with a beautiful woman in order to make it back to his true love. An example of Penelope’s loyalty to Odysseus is that she rejects the many suitors that approach her for marriage because she believes that Odysseus is still alive somewhere and she remains loyal to their marriage. Before Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he told Penelope that if he did not return by the time their son, Telemachus, could grow a full beard, she must remarry at her own will. Penelope remains loyal to her marriage with Odysseus, even though Telemachus had grown a beard. QUOTE!! Odysseus’s’ loyalty...

    Read More

More about Never-Ending Loyalty In Homer's Odyssey

Open Document