Images and Symbolism in The Odyssey

The Sea

Odysseus spends so much time sailing home that the sea really takes up a good chunk of his life. This is fitting, since the sea and its perils work much the same way the Odyssey argues that life does, it is full of suffering, but it can’t be avoided. The sea can send blessings like sea breezes to blow him home or obstacles like storms, Skylla and Charybdis, and treacherous islands. Because the sea is ruled by Poseidon, it is also a manifestation of the superiority of the gods and nature over man.

Laertes’s Shroud

The shroud is a symbol of female deception. Because she is a woman, Penelope doesn’t have much power to resist the suitors (as seen repeatedly by her son’s commands to go back upstairs to the bedroom, since everything else is a man’s affair). So, since she cannot fight them off or throw them out of her house, all she can do is delay the day she must pick a suitor. So she stretches that out as far as she can by prolonging the time it takes her to complete an honorable feminine task – weaving a death shroud for the despairing father of Odysseus. Though she spends all day weaving, she unravels her work each night. The fact that Penelope does not actually produce the shroud symbolizes her immobility and her helplessness to make any real progress against her enemy suitors.

Odysseus’s Bow

The bow is a symbol of kingship and strength. Whoever strings it is worthy of King Odysseus and can rightfully take the throne. Physical strength was an important quality to the ancient Greeks, not only in warfare, but because psychologically it was tied to political strength and the iron will needed to govern a people who were given to argument and debate.

Not surprisingly, none of the suitors even comes close to succeeding, s...

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...’ pillaging of Odysseus’s provisions. This shows that the supposedly "noble" men do not have the human qualities of restraint and propriety, they are therefore somewhat less than human and worthy of death (or so the Odyssey argues). On the other hand, Nestor, Menelaos, and the Phaiakians serve proper banquets – full of good food, wine, and singing. They are considered not only good hosts, but great human beings.

Odysseus and Penelope’s Bed

It turns out that Odysseus carved his bed from the roots of a live olive tree. As such, the bed is unmovable. It’s also growing, but evidently that’s not a problem for anyone. The point is that the bed can’t be moved, altered, or shaken – it’s steadfast and constant, much like the love between this royal couple. Odysseus's sleeping around seems not to count, but Penelope’s continuous loyalty is represented by the unmovable bed.