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Maids In The Penelopiad

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At the end of The Odyssey, Odysseus rage slaughters the suitors who were after his wife. After the battle, Odysseus is left with a tremendous mess, “...one and all in their numbers, lying fallen in their blood and in the dust, like fish whom the fishermen have taken in their net with many holes...and all of them lie piled on the sand… (page 331, line 382)” Instead of cleaning up and going to his wife, who is mysteriously sleeping, Odysseus asks to bring all of the non-loyal maids to him, “Do not waken her yet, but tell those women who have been shameful in their devisings to come here to my presence. (page 332, line 435)” Odysseus' priorities seem a bit off at this point, but maybe he just wants to give a quick stern talking to. Nope, he forces …show more content…

In one of the first asides, a rope-jumping rhyme, the maids stick it to Odysseus, “we did much less than what you did you judged us bad (page 5).” This sets up the maids through The Penelopiad to express their understandable hate for Odysseus. Later, the Maids lament that they were essentially slaves and had no choice, “If our owners or the sons of our owners or a visiting nobleman or the son of a visiting nobleman wanted to sleep with us, we could not refuse… All this happened to us when we were children (page 14)” The Maids continue to describe their terrible lives in which they had no choice. Odysseus did not think about the role of his servants when he passed judgment. In reality, what were they supposed to do? The maids assert that they were a scapegoat or an outlet for Odysseus' anger, “Blame it on the maids! Those naughty little jades! Hang them high and don't ask why – Blame it on the maids! (page 151)” Towards the end of The Penelopiad, Penelope seems hurt by Odysseus' actions. While discussing with Eurycleia she describes the maids chosen for slaughter as, “The ones who'd been raped … my eyes and ears among the Suitors, I did not add. My helpers during the long nights of the shroud. My snow-white geese. My thrushes, my doves. (page 160)” It is apparent from this statement that Atwood does not portray Penelope's love for Odysseus in this scene, but rather describes him as a

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his eyes were always tearful... in longing to go back home. ”(183,185) Even when Calypso offers Odysseus immortality if he stays with her, Odysseus still wants to go home to his wife. “you would stay here with me and be immortal”(187) This quote shows how Odysseus would rather go home to Penelope than have immorality and stay with a goddess.

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Penelope, his wife, is greatly affected; as many greedy suitors disrespect her and move into their home to try and win her hand in marriage. Throughout ‘The Odyssey’, the greed and folly of men play a huge part in increasing the difficulty and severity of Odysseus’s situations and ultimately change his fate and the directions of his journey. The greed and folly of men are largely represented by Penelope’s suitors. In the very first book of The Odyssey, the disgusting actions of the suitors were introduced to the readers.

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The wooers commanded Odysseus ' the servants to do what they asked them to do. They would make them cook for them, clean up after them, and fetch them drinks. They basically forced Penelope out of her own home. After three years of weaving and then unweaving the robe a maid tells the wooers of her plan. Then Penelope is forced to finish weaving the robe and has no more excuses to put off marrying one of the wooers.

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While the maids voice their opinion about Penelope and pretend to be her, they display their viewpoint on what Penelope’s actual actions are: “Point out those maids as feckless and disloyal, / Snatched by the Suitors as unlawful spoil” (Atwood 150). In other words, the maids accuse Penelope of saying awful things about them so that they are killed. Again, the rhyming shows that the maids claim this, not Penelope. Their perspective is that Penelope turned on them when Odysseus returned home, even though she loved and supported them.

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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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