Even though people typically believe that the main hero of Homer’s the Odyssey is Odysseus himself, the true hero of the Odyssey is Penelope. Even though her entire story isn’t told in the epic poem, you can still tell that she went through struggles and trials just as her husband Odysseus did. Along with going through trials, she comes up with witty ideas in order to overcome them. She is very clever, and she also plans long-term. She is loyal to Odysseus and faithfully waits for his return. Many will claim that Odysseus is truly the hero of this story after all. He is the main center of focus throughout the entire poem, and he helped win the Trojan War with his wooden horse idea. He cleverly tricked the Cyclops, which got him and several other men out of the cyclops’ grasp. He also tried to warn his men of the dangers that would overcome if they killed the cattle on the island. …show more content…
While Odysseus was on Calypso’s island living with another woman, Penelope was at home trying to fight off suitors and being loyal to her husband who was supposed to be making his way home. Penelope is clever much like Odysseus is with the Cyclops. It had been twenty years since Odysseus had left and the citizens of Ithaca wanted a new king. The suitors were trying to marry Penelope and take over the kingdom because it presumed that Odysseus had died. She said that she would choose a new king when she finished her tapestry that she had been crafting for a while. Every day, Penelope would undo her work in order to not have to marry anyone other than Odysseus. When Penelope realizes that the beggar is actually Odysseus himself, she comes up with an idea. Whoever can string Odysseus’ bow and shoot through twelve arrows will be her new husband. She also raised Odysseus’ son as a single mother and tends to her kingdom at the same
The role of the archetypal hero, who has incredible bravery, power, leadership, and determination, like Odysseus evolves in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey. Odysseus is a king who led his crew on a 10-year journey after a victory in the Trojan War. His motivation was to return home to his beloved wife, Penelope. The poem was written around the 8th Century BC and is set in Ancient Greece around 1200 B.C.E. Odysseus is the King of Ithaca, which is an important factor when considering him a hero. In Ancient Greece, being a member of royalty made Odysseus powerful and placed him in a leadership role.
The Odyssey, which features the legendary hero Odysseus, is one of the most well-known and significant pieces of literature in the Western canon. The epic poem, written by the ancient Greek poet Homer, describes Odysseus' ten-year journey home from the Trojan War, during which he endures many hardships that put his grit, wit and moral fiber to the test. Odysseus faces many challenges on his journey to his homeland Ithaca and his wife Penelope, including the wrath of the gods, the seductions of women, the perils of the sea, and the threats of his foes. These obstacles each called for him to exhibit certain virtues and abilities. For instance, he must use his intelligence to outwit the giant and escape his grasp, so his fight with the Cyclops
Julia Schultz Ms. Nokes Honors English 9 7 February 2023 Odysseus the Flawed Hero The term hero is significantly misused in The Odyssey by Homer. Odysseus, king of Ithaca, is an example of a hero who does not deserve the title. Nonetheless, Odysseus shares many qualities of being a hero: he led his crew to victory in the grueling ten-year-long Trojan war due to his strategic thinking, and bravely made it home alive from the ten-year-long journey back. Odysseus is brave, cunning, and has great leadership skills: all of these traits are characteristics you would expect in a hero.
Penelope is the ultimate test to whether the trials of the women strengthen Odysseus’ desire for wisdom. Odysseus has to prove to Penelope that he is actually Odysseus and can only be reunited through cunning. Penelope “spoke to her husband, trying him out”(ODY 23.181), discerning whether he truly deserves her wisdom. Like the unification of Zeus with Metis, only cunning can re-unify the strength of Odysseus with the wisdom of Penelope to give birth to order. In her wisdom, Penelope realizes how deceptive that the gods are, and explains to Odysseus why she needed to try him: Do not now be angry with me nor blame me...
Penelope is a strong, smart, and cunning woman, who didn't need help or crap from anybody. When she said “So every day I wove the great loom, but every night by torchlight”(Document B.) It was a smart move on her half, she knew a way to hold of the suitors until her husband came back. She is the original “Strong woman” Icon. She didn't mess up as much as Odysseus, But didn't do as much either. Another Heroic part is when “She will marry the man who can string odysseus's bow and shoot a arrow through twelve ax-handle sockets.”
Penelope is the only reason that Odysseus wants to go home, and the only reason that he is able to establish his home once he arrives. Penelope’s cunning compliments that of her husband’s, because it highlights the fact that they are of one mind, which affirms Odysseus’s excellence in knowing. Penelope knows that no man can achieve this feat she has asked the suitors to perform, except
Odysseus is a man born in ithaca and king of this. Is represented heroically by his valor, and loyalty to his wife named Penelope with whom he had a son called Telemaco prince of ithaca. Odysseus was called by his fellow kings from distant lands to participate in the war against Troy which would last 10 years. The ingenuity the brilliant idea of the trojan horse as invasion plan to be able to infiltrate behind the walls of Troy and invade it completely and win the war.
She remains faithful to her husband after his 20 years of absence. Penelope cleverly tricks her suitors to delaying her hand in marriage as she pines for Odysseus’ return. Telemachus– Prince of Ithaca and son of Odysseus and Penelope. Telemachus goes on a quest to find his father or learn of his father’s death with the goddess Athena’s assistance.
In Homer’s Poem, The Odyssey, Penelope is the exceptionally patient and clever spouse of the infamous hero, Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. One poignant factor of Penelope’s character is her patience and devotion which is displayed throughout the poem. With her husband absent for a great majority of her life for the later of twenty years and his location unknown, Penelope stays, patiently awaiting Odysseus’ return, all whilst preserving their estate and raising her son by herself. Throughout this time, she had many persistent suitors in pursuit of her, abusing her husband’s absence.
A hero is someone who is revered for his or her exceptional achievements and bravery. Anyone who puts themselves before others not for recognition or an award, but because it is the right thing to do, is a true hero. In "The Odyssey," written by Homer is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus and his crewmates competing against the power of the gods to return to their homeland, Ithaca. Throughout his journey, he loses almost all of his men, but Odysseus finally arrives home, concluding his prolonged twenty-year voyage. Odysseus must battle the suitors that have taken his wife Penelope, and may soon kill his son Telemachus.
Every day she sows a death shawl for her father in law, and each night she unwinds her progress, telling the suitors that she will choose a husband when she is done sowing. She tricks the cunning Odysseus into revealing himself. Penelope knows that as a woman in her own right, she has no political or economic power. It is, ultimately, her father’s decision whom she will marry, and her own son pressures her into remarriage so he can inherit his father’s land. If Penelope had been able to be a powerful single woman, would she have remained loyal to Odysseus?
However, for a woman in Homer’s society, who belongs to either her father and her husband, she is the head of the household for 20 years in the absence of Odysseus. She does not preserve peace in the household, but she takes actions to prevent the destruction of ranks of the household by delaying her marriage so that when Odysseus come back home, he can reclaim the kingship, or when Telemachus is old enough, he can take the throne which is rightfully his. In the position where women have no power, she uses her intellectual strength to control the suitors. Penelope promises the suitors that she will choose one of them to marry after she finishes weaving the shroud for Laertes because it is shameful if she does not do anything for her father-in-law. The suitors eagerly comply to her request without knowing what Penelope plans to do.
Odysseus was a Greek soldier who suffered a great journey just to be reunited with his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus. Throughout his journey Odysseus displayed many traits characteristic of epic Greek heroes. These traits, which were valued by the Greeks and defined Odysseus as one of the epic heroes, included: wit, pride, loyalty, faithfulness, and strength. Odysseus used his wit to win the Trojan War and to ensure the survival of his crew on the journey home. After being blocked outside by massive walls that surrounded Troy, Odysseus planned to build an enormous wooden horse and hide Greek soldiers inside the belly of the horse.
However, Penelope still loves Odysseus and remains loyal to him by stalling the marriage. She still continues to persist in being hopeful and refuses to believe that Odysseus will never return to her, so she creates several excuses to help her evade marriage for as long as possible. She presents tasks to keep the
(5. 277). In contrast, Penelope is powerless without the presence of her husband by her side, even begging to “be blown out by the Olympians!/ Shot by Artemis” so that she “still might go and see amid the shades/ Odysseus in the rot of underworld” (20. 89-92). She also becomes emotionally unstable in the wake of Odysseus’ disappearance, becoming easily swayed by her son’s words and reaching brief moments of clarity, before regressing back to “weeping/ for Odysseus, her husband”... when she mount[s] to her room again” (1. 410-412). But despite Penelope’s fragile state, she is still seen as being preferable over Kalypso due to the belief that it was good for women to depend on men.