How Did Homer's Odyssey Influence Margaret Atwood?

Influences

(Explain the influence of Homer’s Odyssey on Margaret Attwood)

Margaret Atwood derived ideas from all different works of myth pieces. Such as The Greek Myths, which inspired Penelope’s life growing up, also Homeric Hymns that had been orally passed down. Most notably, Atwood was inspired to write the Penelopiad after reading Homer’s Odyssey because she believed Penelope was a key character and Homer did not develop this. Atwood wanted to put Penelope into a modern day context of the 21st century to show how Penelope’s ideas and opinions on the treatment of women in the Mycenaean and Homeric society are still relevant today. Ideas such as the role of women, how women are still being raped and treated inferior (as if made to serve

This reference helps set the scene by showing the audience where The Odyssey was finished and where she is going to pick up. “…with nooses round their necks, to bring them to the most pitiable end” By referring to the death of the Maids the audience gets the idea that Atwood is not so happy with this and again shows how she was inspired to explore this part of the maids story; which she does by using a

Which the Dark ages or Dorian age (C.1100-700BCE) then follows, this was the downfall of literacy in Greece, which during this period for some reason societies lost the ability to record information. Therefore there was/is limited information about this period. The Homeric period (C.750BCE) is when Homer was believed to be alive and oral epic poems were the main way that information was communicated. The epic poems ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’ were then recorded. Due to the changes in these periods, the society presented in Homer’s epic poems is an amalgamation of Mycenaean and Homeric