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Examples Of Clever Thinking In The Odyssey

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Homer’s The Odyssey is an epic poem about the journey of the persevering warrior Odysseus. Soon after the birth of his son, Telemachus, Odysseus was sent off to a ten year war. Coming home from war, he encountered many battles, Gods, and monsters that took him off course. During his absence, his wife Penelope was overwhelmed with anxious suitors begging to take her hand in marriage due to Odysseus being gone for twenty years. Odysseus was worried sick that his wife would be unfaithful to him while he was gone, but Penelope’s intelligent thinking bought Odysseus time to return home before the suitors demanded her hand in marriage. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope’s clever thinking, such as unknitting her father in law 's funeral shroud, having the suitors shower her with gifts, and devising the bow and arrow challenge, made her a key character and a perfect match for Odysseus. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope’s clever thinking, such as unknitting her father in law 's funeral shroud, makes her a key character and a perfect match for Odysseus. Suitors try to take Penelope’s hand in marriage with the idea that Odysseus …show more content…

At this point in the story, the suitors were extremely eager to take Penelope 's hand in marriage. The suitors did anything they could to outdo each other to impress Penelope. Once Penelope said, “for the bringing of gifts each man sent forth his page” (179), the suitors saw this as an amazing opportunity. They each showered her with many gifts, everyone aiming to have the best one. Penelope was extremely clever in this act. Threatening the suitors by saying that the men who give bad gifts will not be chosen to be her suitor was a brilliant idea. Penelope’s intelligent thinking led to her receiving marvelous gifts. This also helped Penelope stall in hopes of Odysseus’s imminent

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The Odyssey is Homer’s epic of Odysseus’ journey to return home, to Ithaca, after the Trojan War. This novel includes altercations with mythical creatures when he and his men must face the anger and punishments of many gods. Also, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus attempt to stop the suitors that are looking for Penelope's marriage, and Ithaca's throne long enough for Odysseus to return. The Odyssey ends when Odysseus proves his identity to all who are surrounding, slaughters the suitors, and reconquered his kingdom of Ithaca. Through epithets and cultural aspects, “The Odyssey” by Homer, Robert Fitzgerald’s translation, illustrates an opposition between the [Cyclops] and hospitable men.

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Both of them were feeling the loneliness. Not only Odysseus declines the offer of goddess Cyclops but also Penelope was refusing the offer of hundreds of suitors because they had no feelings for anyone than their lover. There is only Odysseus in Penelope’s heart and

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“The Odyssey,” written by Greek poet Homer is an epic tale depicting the brutally enduring quest home of the Greek hero, Odysseus. Within this heroic story, women play a very large and pivotal role in Odysseus’s trip home from the Trojan War. In his attempt to get back to his wife, Penelope, Odysseus’s progress is constantly hindered by the intervention of women who will do anything in order to either convince the heroic figure to stay with them or have him killed. The intentions of the women in the epic are all very different but one of the most prominent roles lies in the seductresses and the alluring women who will deeply influence Odysseus. Most importantly, Penelope plays a large role in portraying the importance of women’s roles in the story.

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Penelope is “luring gifts from her suitors”, which is clever enough in itself, not to mention she has “something else in mind”, namely, Odysseus (18.317-9). This not only shows how clever she is and a possible reason for keeping the suitors in the house, but also shows her unfailing loyalty as previously noted. All the while, it is believed that she was only keeping the suitors around because she is indecisive but really she is more clever than she seems. The fact that she got gifts as a sort of repayment for the damage the suitors were inflicting on her household is something that requires a lot of forethought. She must also be a clever manipulator in order to repeatedly convince the suitors to give her presents, even though she did not choose one to marry.

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Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, chronicles the homeward bound voyage of the main character, King Odysseus of Ithaca. After Trojan War which lasted ten years, Odysseus sets foot on another adventure, which also spans ten years, to return to Ithaca. Odysseus is gone from his home for a total twenty years, but upon his arrival back to Ithaca, he finds that his title has been defended by his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus, who have been awaiting his return this entire time. Odysseus and Penelope are meant to be a model couple, so people often argue about which of the two is more admirable. To be admirable is to have faced a struggle with honor and dignity.

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“Now I will bring them on as a trial for my suitors. The hand that can string the bow with greatest ease, that shoots an arrow clean through all twelve axes- he’s the man I follow, yes forsaking this house where I was once a bride,” (Od. 19.648-652). As soon as Penelope utters these words Odysseus urges her and assures her that her once lost husband will be home in time before the suitors can complete this task. This reassures Penelope that the beggar indeed is Odysseus.

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Penelope proves that women can be just as smart, if not smarter, than men. She outsmarts the suitors that invade her home to escape marriage. For example, she weaves each day for years and tells the suitors that when she is done she will marry. Homer writes, “This was her latest masterpiece of guile: she set up a great loom in the royal halls and she began to weave, and the weaving finespun, the yarns endless, and she would lead us on: ‘Young men, my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more, go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until I can finish off this web…” (Homer). She deceives them because she undoes all of her work after every day with the knowledge that they are too busy with feasts and wine to notice.

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119 The suitors curse her for her deceitful scheme, but still they praise her for her intelligence, which in turn makes her more desirable. Regardless, Penelope manipulates her suitors without violating the social role of women in ancient Greek society; in the world of the Odysseus, the social order was fixed and hierarchical and social mobility was

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Throughout the epic, Odysseus and his lover showed their cunning ways. Penelope is trying to void the suitors from marrying her until her husband returns. Penelope holds off the suitors by creating devious and intelligent test for them to pass. “Here is my lord Odysseus hunting bow… Nobody bends that bow stave easily in this company…

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After discovering Penelope’s deception, the suitors complain, “Her very words, and despite our pride and passion we believed her. So by day she’d weave at her great and growing web- by night, by the light of torches set beside her, she would unravel all she’d done. Three who years, she deceived us blind, seduced us with this scheme” (Homer, Odysseus, 2. 101- 106). With one simple promise, she is able to keep the suitors in control for three years, which demonstrates her intellectual strength. Penelope, a woman who perceives to be a weak character and unable to keep the household together, manages to assert dominance over 108 men with words alone.

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They are doing this to take over Odysseus’s place as the head of their household. The overall mood of the painting is agitated because Penelope is not paying attention to the suitors resulting in the suitors becoming overly agitated. Her handmaid also looks annoyed by Penelope’s choice not to remarry, which also makes the maids and servants agitated. Penelope is annoyed by the entire situation especially with the suitors chasing after her or her handmaids not accepting her decision and looking down on her for her decision to wait for her long-absent husband Odysseus. In addition, everyone in the painting thinks she is ruining her chances by not choosing a

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648 Words | 3 Pages

In addition to the great deity, Athena, and the famous seductress, Circe, one example of a female using her sensuality to deceive a male character is Penelope, the wife of Odysseus in the Odyssey. She takes on the role of both a seductress to the many suitors wishing to marry her and a powerful mother figure to her son. While mourning for her lost husband, Penelope promises that she will choose one of the suitors to marry without the intention of ever saying “I do”. In order to delay the suitors’ advances, Penelope tells them she will marry one of them after she finishes sewing her wedding veil, but she deceives them at the end of each day Penelope ruins all of her work so that the task will never be

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(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.

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1401 Words | 6 Pages

These women influenced the conditions of the journey by guiding Odysseus in different directions, and aiding him crucially. Their authority showed the idea behind an old proverb, which states, “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”. Throughout The Odyssey, the women exemplified their power during the course of Odysseus’ journey.     Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, bravely held down the front in Ithaca while her husband struggled to find his way back home. In Book 18, Penelope spoke to the ever-so-desperate suitors about what Odysseus “told” her before he left.

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Imagine landing in a difficult situation... getting stranded from home, encountering beautiful woman at the same time, but you have a wife. You have to choose your wife, or a beautiful woman. This is exactly what happened to Odysseus on his travels in The Odyssey, by the Greek poet Homer. In this epic poem, Odysseus is married to his wife Penelope and has a happy family, who lives in Ithaca. Even though Odysseus has been stranded from home for many years, he still remains loyal to his wife.

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