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Penelope Struggles In The Odyssey

1601 Words7 Pages

Yes, Penelope struggles greatly with a very important decision throughout the course of the story. In the background of the main plot, Penelope struggles with a very important decision throughout the time Odysseus remains lost at sea. After many years without Odysseus’ return, the prospect of a new marriage inclines itself onto Penelope. The sons of the noblest families come to live with Penelope in order to court her for marriage. However, Penelope still loves Odysseus and remains loyal to him by stalling the marriage. She still continues to persist in being hopeful and refuses to believe that Odysseus will never return to her, so she creates several excuses to help her evade marriage for as long as possible. She presents tasks to keep the …show more content…

Odysseus encounters many monsters and immortals throughout his homecoming journey. He faces everything from Sea Nymphs to Sirens, from Lotus Eaters to Cyclopes, and from Enchantresses to even the Gods themselves. Because Odysseus stuck through and pursued on, he finally returned to his wife and child. When Odysseus arrives in his homeland, Athena directs him to Eumaeus’ hut where he meets his son. At first, his son refuses to believe his father has come back, but eventually convinces himself his father has truly returned. After Telemachus and his father share a reunion, he leads his father to his house. Upon arrival, Odysseus disguises himself as a beggar and finds that the house has been taken over by sires trying to court his wife as a result of his actions. After completing Athena’s task, Odysseus reveals himself to his wife. However, Odysseus finds it very difficult to convince his wife that he has truly come back. When Odysseus reveals something no one else knows, Penelope runs to him and throws her arms around him. This sets off many emotions in Odysseus all at once, causing him to weep due to the euphoria of finally holding his wife once again. Odysseus’ persistence in returning home throughout a period of twenty years fulfilled his longing for love and to be reunified with his

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Although Odysseus is a famous, intelligent and heroic figure, his loyalty to Penelope is nonexistent. This is revealed by his affairs with other woman, his extended journey home, and by the fact that he failed to make Penelope his priority. Loyalty is not a difficult concept, all Odysseus had to do to fulfill this was avoid other women, and put Penelope above his selfish ways. His failure to do this proves him to be an unreliable husband, who does not deserve his selfless and trustworthy wife. Loyalty is an essential part of marriage or any relationship and requires both people involved in the relationship.

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The natives there gave Odysseus and his men an intoxicating fruit of the lotus. After Odysseus and his men eat the fruit, they forget all of their thoughts about home and decide to eat more of the fruit. The only way that Odysseus can get him and his men back home is by dragging his men back to the ship and lock them up, Odysseus decides to go along with it. When Odysseus went back to Ithaca, He made the wise choice to go and see his wife Penelope. Odysseus was so brave to go see his wife because he didn’t know if she was going to recognize him at all or want to be with him for the rest of her life.

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Doherty throughout her book writes about many debatable topics regarding The Odyssey. In chapter 10, she writes about the reunion of Penelope and Odysseus. Throughout the chapter Doherty uses key moments throughout Penelope and Odysseus’s interactions, while Odysseus was dressed as the beggar. Within these moments she attempts to defend the argument that the intuitive Penelope theory is present. She uses the intuitive Penelope theory throughout the chapter to explain the structure of the poem, and why certain things seem to happen suddenly; such as the decision to hold the bow contest.

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He felt obligated to remain with her in a perfect paradise for seven years. However, throughout the entire time he was trapped with Calypso, Odysseus felt that he was wanted elsewhere. Thus, he longed to return to his home and to his dearly loved Penelope. Odysseus’ passion for being with his wife ultimately won the call for him to return home.

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When Odysseus finally returns home, he has Athena disguise him so he can look at how his home has been going without him. Everyone besides his wife, son, and two other of his men have been disloyal to him and there is a group of suitors there who have overstayed their visit trying to get Penelope to be their wife. Odysseus locks the suitors all in one room where the

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Even when Odysseus was away from home, she still was devoted to him and long awaited for him to return back to Ithaca. Throughout the Odyssey, Penelope is seen wishing for Odysseus to come home. Penelope asks Telemachus if he has heard any news about Odysseus and Telemachus tells her about his trip to Menelaus. Penelope states that when Odysseus left, her beauty was lost and if he came home her reputation would be greater than it was. When Odysseus returns home in disguise and tells Penelope that he has returned, Penelope offers gifts if he actually comes home.

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When she does feature in the epic poem it is usually during a time when she is being instructed by a male figure or when she is weeping. Penelope lacks in self decision making, instead she is ordered around for other’s needs. “Making decisions must be men’s concern, and mine in particular; for I am master in this house.” Penelope is shown to be on a low section of the social structure than her son Telemachus. Reason being is that in ancient Greece women were strictly controlled by the men in their lives; first by their fathers then later, at the age of 15, by their husbands.

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While Odysseus was on Calypso’s island living with another woman, Penelope was at home trying to fight off suitors and being loyal to her husband who was supposed to be making his way home. Penelope is clever much like Odysseus is with the Cyclops. It had been twenty years since Odysseus had left and the citizens of Ithaca wanted a new king. The suitors were trying to marry Penelope and take over the kingdom because it presumed that Odysseus had died. She said that she would choose a new king when she finished her tapestry that she had been crafting for a while.

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While finally making it home to Ithica, he got word that all was not well at his home and that Penelope was in trouble. People had invaded his home, and these suitors tried to take Penelope for themselves. When Odysseus got word of this he did not rush and try to kill them like he once would have, but instead, he thought and planned his moves. With the help of his son, and servants of his house, they were are able to rid the house of the suitors and have Penelope once again.

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They refuse to stop using Odysseus’ wealth to better themselves. Since she is a woman, however, Penelope lacks the power to control or banish these men. Through Penelope, Homer tells the Greeks how a picture-perfect wife should act toward her husband. Even though Odysseus has been gone for twenty years, Penelope still follows his wishes and fulfills his desire for her to stay

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However, for a woman in Homer’s society, who belongs to either her father and her husband, she is the head of the household for 20 years in the absence of Odysseus. She does not preserve peace in the household, but she takes actions to prevent the destruction of ranks of the household by delaying her marriage so that when Odysseus come back home, he can reclaim the kingship, or when Telemachus is old enough, he can take the throne which is rightfully his. In the position where women have no power, she uses her intellectual strength to control the suitors. Penelope promises the suitors that she will choose one of them to marry after she finishes weaving the shroud for Laertes because it is shameful if she does not do anything for her father-in-law. The suitors eagerly comply to her request without knowing what Penelope plans to do.

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Penelope comes up with a lot of ways to say no to the suitors about having affairs with her. By these actions the reader can infer that Penelope will not have affairs with the suitors because she loves Odysseus and no one

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865 Words | 4 Pages

Every day she sows a death shawl for her father in law, and each night she unwinds her progress, telling the suitors that she will choose a husband when she is done sowing. She tricks the cunning Odysseus into revealing himself. Penelope knows that as a woman in her own right, she has no political or economic power. It is, ultimately, her father’s decision whom she will marry, and her own son pressures her into remarriage so he can inherit his father’s land. If Penelope had been able to be a powerful single woman, would she have remained loyal to Odysseus?

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In The Odyssey, Homer constantly depicts Penelope as calm, collected, and faithful to Odysseus’s wishes; however, Edwin Muir’s poem shows a different side of the perfect queen. Edwin Muir uses descriptions of chaos and undoing in “The Return of Odysseus” to emphasize the role that Penelope’s management plays in the dissolution of Ithaca and the house of Odysseus. The first stanza eludes to the chaotic vibe that results from Penelope’s management and how Ithaca changes after Odysseus leaves. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus describes Ithaca as “sunny” and “[the] sweet[est] sight on Earth”, however, the Ithaca that Odysseus recalls is different than the current Ithaca that Penelope rules alone (9: 23, 31).

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Odysseus is truly loyal to Penelope because he leaves Ogygia (where he was trapped) as soon as possible, puts all of his effort into making it home to his wife, and even flirts with Princess Nausicaa to get him home. Even though Odysseus has been through

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