Analysis Of Homer 's ' The Odyssey '

Odysseus' wife, Penelope, likewise demonstrates her loyalty in how she deals with Odysseus' absence. Finally, the goddess Athena plays a significant role in aiding both Telemachus and Odysseus on their complex journeys. Throughout The Odyssey, Athena, Telemachus, and Penelope individually demonstrate their loyalty towards Odysseus in their

In The Odyssey, Penelope seems to give in to the double standard; women can not succeed without men which she demonstrates. The foil Penelope provides for Odysseus manifests itself through Odysseus' infidelity. Odysseus is held captive and instead of remaining loyal to his wife who is intensely awaiting his return he submits to his temptations. Penelope on the other hand is dedicated to being faithful to her husband even while he has been gone for so long. In the reader's mind Odysseus is still nothing less than the strong, dominant, alpha male. With Calypso luring him in, not succumbing to the temptation would be bizarre given his alpha male persona. Penelope wanted to remain faithful to Odysseus even while she was pressured to find a suitor. Because of the double standard that exists she needs to find a way to lengthen the amount of time she has. Penelope is sure her husband will be coming home even after ten years and she does not want to commit to someone else when she is in love with and loyal to her husband. If a man was in Penelope’s position it is

In the years Odysseus has been gone, Penelope has remained faithful. She held hope to the fact that one day her husband would come back to her but upon her husband's arrival she seems to feel as though this is bizarre and impossible. “Why do you mock me? haven't I wept enough? Telling such wild stories,interrupting my sleep, sweet sleep that held me, sealed my eyes just now” (XXIII.16-18).This quote displays the derision Penelope feels, not only is this surreal for her she discerns this as being completely disrespected. Although in the 22 books before this she is shown as longing for her dear husband to come back, this shows signs of her changing her feelings because of the amount of time and distance between Penelope and her husband. After this altercation, Odysseus not only feels disrespected but he feels mortified as to why his loyal wife would treat him as though she’d never seen him a day in her life. This altercation truly affected how each member of the family viewed one

The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus after the Trojan War. It not only includes an insight on the adventures and return of Odysseus, but it also includes the stories of Telemakhos and Penelope. Telemakhos is the courageous son of Odysseus who goes on a quest in search for information about his father’s whereabouts. Penelope is an extremely clever woman who could match Odysseus in his wit. Penelope is able manipulate the suitors that have come to pursue her in Odysseus’s absence. Though Penelope often spends many nights weeping over the absence of her husband, it seems as if she never loses faith in her husband, and she truly believes that he will return to her and punish the suitors that have taken over their

Penelope is Odysseus's wife. Penelope raises her and Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, for 20 years by herself. She had to raise Telemachus alone since he was a newborn when Odysseus had gone to fight in Battle of Troy. Penelope stayed loyal to Odysseus by staying unmarried for 20 years. Near the end of the years, in order to save her kingdom, she decides to marry another. However, she played many tricks and challenges to stall time, hoping her husband would come back. Penelope played two clever tricks. The first of which is known as “Special Ones.” Which is a trick where she is “sending promises to each man privately” (Homer 2, 95). She promised every man that he is the one in order to buy herself time. Penelope using hope that Odysseus might come home one day as motivation for her tricks. The second trick is called “Am I really done?” “Am I really done?” ,in which she asked, “Young Men, my suitors, now my lord is dead, let me finish my weaving before I marry” (2, 100 - 101) and the suitors agreed because they didn't want the thread to be “spun in vain” (2, 102). The mischievous part is “every night by torchlight she unwove it.” (2, 109) Penelope stayed loyal toward

Penelope serves as one of the most crucial characters within the Odyssey. She one of the few driving forces for our main protagonist’s journey home and she is also an exemplar model of female character breaking the mold of the damsel in distress. She actually takes it upon herself to take command, to some extent, of her own situation while her husband is presumably making his way back home from war. Penelope even matches Odysseus in craftiness and sly personality. For example, Penelope had told the suitors that she would assume a new husband after she was done weaving a shroud, but she would secretly unweave her progress every night. This behavior is a reoccurring theme. Penelope sets up other tests, such as having to shoot an arrow through

As the request is made of his own mother she simply abides to her son’s wishes, “She bathed now, put on some fresh clothes,” (Homer l 17.60). All throughout the Odyssey Penelope shows her strength to ward off suitors and she manages to live without her husband for years. Remaining faithful the entire time to her husband Odysseus she discloses to her maid, “Eurynome, don’t try to coax me, care for me as you do, to bathe myself, refresh my face with oils. Whatever glow I had died long ago… the gods of Olympus snuffed it out that day my husband sailed away in the hollow ships,” (Homer ll 18.201-206) presenting to the reader that she lost all desire for anyone else when Odysseus’ left for war. This further substantiates the Greek view of how women should remain loyal at all times forsaking others. Lastly Penelope is rewarded for her lasting devotion to her husband with his return. In these characters and their specific roles in the Odyssey the Greeks’ insisted upon their women to accept such roles in their culture of certain hypocrisy when compared to that of their female counterpart. Without Athena’s support Odysseus would have never reached Ithaca and Telemachus would not have been pushed into becoming a man. Without Penelope’s loyalty, devotion, and support Odysseus’ efforts in his journey home would have held little merit of reward. What is most important to note is the male character of Odysseus plays the most prominent role in the epic but

Penelope may not have as exciting of a life as some of the other characters in Homer’s The Odyssey, but she makes up for it by being very clever, which makes her a good match for her husband, Odysseus. Penelope plays a very important role in Odysseus’s journey home, in fact, she is the main reason for his return to Ithaca. When the suitors begin invading her house and asking, then demanding, her hand in marriage, Penelope knows she must handle them herself. Being a woman in ancient Greece, she does not have the ability to force the suitors to leave her house, and neither does Telemachus. This means that Penelope must continue to allow them to abuse the hospitality that was expected at that time, and all she can do is try to outsmart the suitors until her husband comes home. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope is a good match for Odysseus because she is clever, and she shows that cleverness when she stalls the suitors by weaving the burial shroud, when she devises the contest with

In the Odyssey, Penelope is the wife of Odysseus. She represents the ideal wife. She has honor, power, faithfulness, sadness and long suffering. Penelope has a very intelligent, cunning character. When her husband is sent to fight in the Trojan war for many years, she thinks of him often and chooses to be alone. Penelope and Odysseus had one son Telemachus, who was born right before Odysseus left for war.

The novel started while Odysseus was missing, leaving Penelope alone to take care of Telemachus and the suitors. The time she was away from Odysseus seems shorter than reality, but she had been away from him for around twenty years. Penelope was a strong example of faithfulness, and was a reason that students should read the novel The Odyssey because she was always thinking of Odysseus. In contrast, the character Odysseus played with the idea of faithfulness. The novel portrayed Odysseus in the scenes with Kirke and Kalypso as helpless and trapped, but the novel never told of Odysseus resisting their love.

Unlike Odysseus Penelope is confined by the gender roles of her time and cannot use physical strength against the suitors or even direct verbal rejection, instead Penelope resorts to her emotional resilience and wit in order to challenge the suitors. She wrongly reassures the suitors that once she finishes weaving a gift for Odysseus’s father, she will choose someone to marry her, “’Young men, my suitors, let me finish my weaving, before I marry’…every day she wove on the great loom but every night by torchlight she unwove it.” (II. 103-104, 112-113) Penelope’s actions are strategic and well calculated. Her main goal, like Odysseus, is to successfully overcome her situation. She understands that she may not be able to physically fight the suitors but she can trick them until Telemachus or Odysseus are able to. By crafting a lie that delays the suitors from marrying her immediately, Penelope restrains the suitors from seizing Ithaca, her household, and posing a threat to Telemachus or Odysseus. Her lie gives Odysseus a crucial advantage in the physical fight against the suitors as he comes back to a city and household where Penelope

Penelope was left behind when Odysseus left for the trojan war, but he didn’t come back after that. Penelope had to take care of their son, their estate, and their servants for 20 years. On top of all of that she had suitors demanding her attention. In all of this she stayed strong and independent, and despite the pressure of the suitors she stayed loyal to Odysseus, even when she didn’t even know if he was alive or not. Penelope’s character is also very clever and sly. She told the suitors that she would remarry after she finishes her weaving project, but each night she undoes everything she did that day. When the suitors find out about it they demand she choose someone to remarry. Penelope uses her intelligence and slyness again as she tells them whoever wins an archery contest using Odysseus bow, which only he could use, she would marry. Penelope is also very kind, which we see when she interacts with the servants and her son. Penelope is a very well portrayed character and she is needed in the story to be someone Odysseus could always be someone to come back

Penelope is also important because she (along with Telemachus) is the main reason for Odysseus to return home. Odysseus shows his great love and determination when goddess Calypso offers him immortality (Book 5) on the condition that he remains on Ogygia as her husband. At Odysseus's first opportunity he builds a raft and sails away, leaving the lonely Calypso behind. When he reaches Phaeacia, he is then offered the hand of King Alcinous daughter, Nausicaa, who must have been beautiful because Odysseus had mistaken her for the goddess Artemis on first site. Instead Odysseus wished to return to Penelope.

To begin, Penelope thinks of Odysseus and immediately lets her emotions out: “Odysseus—if he could return to tend my life / the renown I had would only grow in glory. / Now my life is torment … / look at the griefs some god has loosed against me!” (The Odyssey, 18.285-288). Furthermore, Homer expresses Penelope’s sadness by making her sink “on her well-built chamber’s floor” and through her “sobbing uncontrollably” (The Odyssey, 4.810-813). Clearly in Penelope’s mind, Odysseus’ absence is not something she can easily forget. Homer introduces Penelope as a very caring and devoted wife.

As Odysseus travels from one Greek city to the next, the native citizens inquire about his identity and family. Although Odysseus has not seen his native land in twenty years, he defines himself as the product of family: either the son of Laertes or the father of Telemachus. Odysseus is treated like family in the foreign lands he visits. Telemachus embarks on an adventure of his own and is accepted by Nestor and Menelaus, especially because his father suffered through the Trojan War along with the two kings. Family is at the heart of decisions, central in society, creates a frame of reference for individual members of society, and is a source of learning. Family, the central theme in The Odyssey, connects individuals, cities, and gods to one another and is a driving force in decisions and emotional reactions.