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Penelope Ambivalence Towards The Suitors In The Odyssey

236 Words1 Pages
While Odysseus is disguised as a beggar, Penelope descends the staircase to present herself to the suitors in an alluring manner. Penelope’s actions towards the suitors are bizarre, for having scorned them for so long, the sudden act of eliciting gifts and stares appears vastly out of character. While Athena had casted a spell over Penelope’s beauty, Penelope herself casts a spell over the suitors for them to pay heed to her words, drawing a parallel to Athena’s cunning wisdom. Like her dream of an eagle slaughtering her beloved geese, Penelope’s actions suggest ambivalence towards the suitors that contradicts her trope of “the faithful wife”. Penelope, although loyal, has conflicting thoughts about the state of her husband’s absence and
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