Penelope

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Penelope

In HomerFacts About Homer

Homer was a legendary early Greek poet and rhapsode traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the ...
's OdysseyOdyssey

The Odyssey is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems , attributed to the poet Homer....
, Penélopê (???e??p?) is the faithful wife of OdysseusOdysseus

Odysses Lartides , or simply Odysseus, is the main character in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, and plays a key ro...
, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and so is eventually rejoined with him. Her name (which happens to be close to the Greek word for "duck") is usually understood to combine the Greek word for "web" or "woof" (p??? / pene), and the word for "eye" or "face" (?? / ops), which is most appropriate for a weaver of cunning whose motivation is hard to decipher.

Prior to recent readings, her name had been associated with faithfulness, but the most recent readings offer a more ambiguous interpretation.
Role in the OdysseyPenelope is the wife of the main character, the king of IthacaIthaca

Ithaca, or Ithaka is an island in the Ionian Sea, in Greece with an area of 96 km and 5,000 inhabitants....
, OdysseusOdysseus

Odysses Lartides , or simply Odysseus, is the main character in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, and plays a key ro...
(Ulysses in Roman mythology), and daughter of IcariusIcarius

In Greek mythology, there were two people named Icarius, or Ikrios...
and his wife PeriboeaPeriboea

In Greek mythology, six people shared the name Periboea....
.

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Role in the Odyssey

Penelope is the wife of the main character, the king of IthacaIthaca

Ithaca, or Ithaka is an island in the Ionian Sea, in Greece with an area of 96 km and 5,000 inhabitants....
, OdysseusOdysseus

Odysses Lartides , or simply Odysseus, is the main character in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, and plays a key ro...
(Ulysses in Roman mythology), and daughter of IcariusIcarius

In Greek mythology, there were two people named Icarius, or Ikrios...
and his wife PeriboeaPeriboea

In Greek mythology, six people shared the name Periboea....
. She has one son by Odysseus, TelemachusTelemachus

Telemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope....
, who was born just before Odysseus was called to fight in the Trojan WarTrojan War Overview

The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor , by the armies of the Achaeans,...
. She waits twenty years for the final return of her husband, during which she has a hard time snubbing marriage proposals from several odious suitors (including AgelausAgelaus

In Greek mythology, Agelaus, or Agelos was a suitor of Penelope, killed by Odysseus....
, AmphinomusAmphinomus

In Greek mythology, Amphinomus, also Amphnomos, was the son of King Nisos and one of the suitors of Penelope that was ...
, Ctessippus, DemoptolemusDemoptolemus

Demoptolemus was a suitor of Penelope who was killed by Odysseus. ...
, ElatusElatus

There were two figures named Elatus or latos in Greek mythology....
, Euryades, EurymachusEurymachus Overview

Eurymachus, or Eurmakhos, was an Ithacan nobleman and the son of Polybus, one of the leading suitors of Penelope in Th...
and Peisandros, led by AntinousAntinous son of Eupeithes

In Greek mythology, Antinous, son of Eupeithes, was one of the suitors of Penelope during the absence of her husband, Odysse...
).

On Odysseus's return, disguised as an old beggar, he finds that Penelope has remained faithful. She has devised tricks to delay her suitors, one of which is to pretend to be weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus's elderly father LaertesLaertes Summary

In Greek mythology, Larts was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa....
and claiming that she will choose a suitor when she has finished. Every night for three years, she undoes part of the shroud, until some unfaithful maidens discover her chicanery and reveal it to the suitors.

Because of her efforts to put off remarriage, Penelope is often seen as a symbol of connubial fidelity. Although we are reminded several times of her fidelity, Penelope does begin to become restless (due in part to AthenaAthena

In Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, weaving, crafts, and war....
's meddling) and longs to "display herself to her suitors, fan their hearts, inflame them more" (xviii.183-84). She is ambivalent, variously calling out for ArtemisArtemis

Artemis , in Greek mythology was daughter of Zeus and of Leto and the twin sister of Apollo....
to kill her and, apparently, considering marrying one of the suitors. When the disguised Odysseus returns, she announces in her long interview with the disguised hero that whoever can string Odysseus's rigid bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe shafts may have her hand. "For the plot of the Odyssey, of course, her decision is the turning point, the move that makes possible the long-predicted triumph of the returning hero".

There is debate over the extent to which she is aware that Odysseus is behind the disguise. To Penelope and the suitors' knowledge, Odysseus (were he in fact present) would easily surpass all in any test of masculine skill. Since Odysseus seems to be the only person (perhaps excepting Telemachus) who can actually use the bow, it could merely have been another delaying tactic of Penelope's.

When the contest of the bow begins, none of the suitors are able to string the bow, except of course Odysseus, who wins the contest. Having done so, he proceeds to slaughter the suitors with help from Telemachus, AthenaAthena

In Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, weaving, crafts, and war....
and two servants, EumaeusEumaeus

In Greek mythology, Eumaeus, or Eumaios, was Odysseus' swineherd and friend before he left for the Trojan War....
the swineherdSwineherd

A Swineherd is a person who looks after pigs, rather like a shepherd looks after sheep....
and PhiloetiusPhiloetius

In Greek mythology, Philoetius, was Odysseus' cowherd and friend before he left for the Trojan War....
the cowherd. Odysseus has now revealed himself in all his glory, and it is standard (in terms of a recognition scene) for all to recognize him and be happy. Penelope, however, cannot believe that her husband has really returned—she fears that it is perhaps some god in disguise as Odysseus, as was the case in the story of AlcmeneAlcmene

In Greek mythology Alcmene, or Alkmn was the mother of Heracles....
—and tests him by ordering her servant EurycleaEuryclea

In Greek mythology, Euryclea, or Eurkleia was the wet-nurse of Odysseus....
to move the bed in their wedding-chamber. Odysseus protests that this can not be done since he made the bed himself and knows that one of its legs is a living olive treeOlive Tree

For information about the plant for which the political party is named, see Olive....
. Penelope finally accepts that he truly is her husband, a moment that highlights their homophrosyne (like-mindedness).

In one story of the Epic Cycle, subsequent to Odysseus' death, Penelope marries his son by CirceCirce

In Greek mythology, Circe or Krke was a goddess living on the island of Aeaea....
, TelegonusTelegonus

In Greek mythology, Telegonus was the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus....
, with whom she becomes the mother of ItalusItalus

Italus was a legendary king of the Sicels or Oenotrians, who were among the earliest inhabitants of Italy....
. Telemachus also marries CirceCirce

In Greek mythology, Circe or Krke was a goddess living on the island of Aeaea....
when Penelope and Telemachus bring Odysseus's body to AeaeaAeaea

In Greek mythology, Aeaea was the home of the sorceress Circe....
.

Suitors

Penelope's suitorsCourtship

Courtship is the process of selecting and attracting another for an intimate relationship such as love, sex, commitment, li...
were called ProciProci

Proci were the suitors of Penelope in the Odyssey, all of whom were killed by Odysseus, Telemachus his son, and his two ...
by HomerHomer

Homer was a legendary early Greek poet and rhapsode traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the ...
.

Primary sources

Ovid, Heroides I
Homer, Odyssey
Lactantius Placidus, Commentarii in Statii Thebaida

Secondary sources

Finley, M.I. The World of Odysseus, London. Pelican Books (1962)
The PenelopiadThe Penelopiad

The Penelopiad is a novel by Margaret Atwood in which Penelope tells about the time her husband was away, how she kept s...
by Margaret AtwoodMargaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC is a Canadian writer....
retells the story of OdysseusOdysseus

Odysses Lartides , or simply Odysseus, is the main character in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, and plays a key ro...
from the point of view of Penelope.*del Giorgio, J.F. The Oldest Europeans A.J.Place (2006). It underlines Penelope's power and her role in a cataclysmic time.

External links
- a painting of Penelope by Joseph Wright of Derby (from the Getty Museum)