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Penelope In Homer's Odyssey

741 Words3 Pages

Charles Hong (csh6cw)
09/10/15
CLAS 3040 Penelope, daughter of Icarius, is a rather unusual considering what type of character she is. While she has been shown as a domestic woman in the earlier books, Penelope is oftentimes described as cunning or wise. Both Odysseus and Penelope display superior amounts of intelligence compared to many of the other characters within the Odyssey. Just as Odysseus can lie about himself to the people closest to him, Penelope, too, can also disguise her own emotions. While she obviously does this to her suitors, Penelope may have also done the same to Odysseus. Although Odysseus finally confirms her suspicions with the wedding bed, Penelope may have figured out who he was in disguise as earlier as their first …show more content…

Since the women quarters are right next to the main hall, Penelope mostly listens to the conversation of the suitors by placing “her carved chair within earshot, at the door” (Homer, Od, 20.432). One of the common ideals of women virtues is for a woman to be modest and hidden within the background. However, she is smart enough to use this characteristic to her advantage by obtaining information she would never get otherwise. She learns of the suitor's plan to kill Telemachus through this method, however, she may have also had a chance to confirm the beggar's identity before the slaying of the suitors. Back when Eurycleia, Odysseus's loyal old maid, was washing the old beggar, she realizes Odysseus's disguise when she sees his scar that led to his name. As soon as she realizes her king, she “glanced at Penelope, keen to signal her” (Homer, Od, 19.539). Although Penelope was being distracted by Athena's divine intervention, Eurycleia's immediate reaction and Penelope's coincidental location seems a bit too suspicious to be an accident. Penelope has proven many times over the poem that she is just as clever and witty as her husband. Like kindred souls, it would not be unusual for her if she also tests those close to her to confirm their loyalty. Although she is not a god like Athena, Penelope has a mind that can rival Odysseus, whose mind has been praised by the gods

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