Penelope

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Penelope

In Homer

Homer

Homer is traditionally held to be the author of the ancient Greek language epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as of the Homeric Hymns....
's Odyssey
Odyssey

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Hellenic civilization epic poetrys attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer....
, Penelópe (???e??pe?a/???e??p?) is the faithful wife of Odysseus

Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greeks king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
, who keeps her suitors

Suitors of Penelope

The suitors of Penelope, also known as the Proci, are one of the main subjects of Homer's Odyssey. Penelope's husband, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, goes off to fight in the 10-year Trojan war....
at bay in his long absence and so is eventually rejoined with him. Prior to recent readings, her name had been associated with faithfulness, but the most recent readings offer a more ambiguous interpretation.

Etymology
The origin of her name is Pre-Greek and is more likely related to the Hesychius'

Hesychius of Alexandria

Hesychius of Alexandria , a grammarian who flourished probably in the 5th century CE, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived ....
gloss

Gloss

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Etymology

The origin of her name is Pre-Greek and is more likely related to the Hesychius'

Hesychius of Alexandria

Hesychius of Alexandria , a grammarian who flourished probably in the 5th century CE, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived ....
gloss

Gloss

A gloss is a brief summary of a word's meaning, equivalent to the dictionary entry of that word, but only a word or two in length. It is typically used for the meaning of a word in another language, and hence a simple translation....
p??????/*p?????? "some kind of bird" (arbitrarily identified today with Eurasian Wigeon), where -???? is a common Pre-Greek suffix for predatory animals , however the semantic relation between the proper name and the gloss is not clear. In folk etymology, ???e??p? is usually understood to combine the Greek word for "web" or "woof" (p??? / pene), and the word for "eye" or "face" (?? / ops), which is considered the most appropriate for a weaver of cunning whose motivation is hard to decipher, or alternatively p??? and ??p? "peel, skive" (akin to leper) due to the shroud-unbraiding part of her myth.

Role in the Odyssey

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

Ithaca

Ithaca or Ithaka is an island in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 118 km? and three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent Communities and Municipalities of Greece of the prefecture of Kefalonia and Ithaka Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia....
, Odysseus

Odysseus

Icarius

In Greek mythology, there were two people named Icarius, or Ik?rios .#One Icarius was the son of Oebalus and Gorgophone and, through Periboea, father of Penelope, Perileos and Iphthime....
and his wife Periboea

Periboea

In Greek mythology, nine people shared the name Periboea .#Periboea was the daughter of either King Cychreus of Salamis Island or of Alcathous....
. She only has one son by Odysseus, Telemachus

Telemachus

Telemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey. The first four books in particular focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father; they are, therefore, traditionally accorded the collective title Telemachy....
, who was born just before Odysseus was called to fight in the Trojan War

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
. She waits twenty years for the final return of her husband, during which she has a hard time snubbing marriage proposals from 108 odious suitors

Suitors of Penelope

Agelaus

Agelaus or Agelaos is, in Greek mythology, the name of various individuals.#Agelaus, or Agelaos, son of Damastor was a suitor of Penelope, killed by Odysseus....
, Amphinomus

Amphinomus

In Greek mythology, Amphinomus, also Amph?nomos , was the son of King Nisos and one of the suitors of Penelope that was killed by Odysseus....
, Ctessippus, Demoptolemus

Demoptolemus

In Homer's Odyssey, Demoptolemus was one of the myriad suitors of Penelope of Ithaca. He met his end by the spear of Odysseus in the final stages of the battle in the hall of the latter's palace....
, Elatus

Elatus

There were six figures named Elatus or ?latos in Greek mythology.* Elatus, a Lapiths chieftain, was the father, by Hippeia, of:**Ischys who was beloved by Coronis....
, Euryades, Eurymachus

Eurymachus

The name Eurymachus, or Eur?makhos, is attributed to the following individuals:...
and Peisandros, led by Antinous

Antinous son of Eupeithes

In Greek mythology, Antinous, son of Eupeithes, was one of the two chief suitors of Penelope during the absence of her husband, Odysseus, at the Trojan war....
).

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 Laertes

Laertes

In Greek mythology, La?rtes was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa. He was the father of Odysseus and Ctimene by his wife Anticlea, daughter of the thief Autolycus....
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 Athena

Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
'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 Artemis

Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
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 is able to string the bow, except of course Odysseus, who wins the contest. Having done so, he proceeds to slaughter the suitors- Antinous first who he finds drinking from Odysseus' cup - with help from Telemachus, Apollo and two servants, Eumaeus

Eumaeus

In Greek mythology, Eumaeus, or Eumaios , was Odysseus's swineherd and friend before he left for the Trojan War. He was brought up with Odysseus and his sister Ctimene as a family slave, although he was treated by Anticleia, their mother, almost as Ctimene's equal....
the swineherd

Swineherd

A swineherd is a person who looks after domestic pig. The term has fallen out of popular use in favour of pig farmer.Pig farming today is still carried out in a manner that can be compared to that practiced in Roman times....
and Philoetius the cowherd. Odysseus has now revealed himself in all his glory, (with a little makeover by Athena) 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 Alcmene

Alcmene

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

Euryclea

In Greek mythology, Eurycleia, Eur?kleia, or Euryclea , was the wet-nurse of Odysseus.In the Odyssey, she was the first person to recognize him after he returned home from the Trojan War....
to move the bed in their wedding-chamber. Odysseus protests that this cannot be done since he made the bed himself and knows that one of its legs is a living olive tree

Olive Tree

The Olive Tree was a denomination used for several successive centre-left List of political parties in Italy from 1995 to 2007.The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions was Romano Prodi, Professor of Economics and former left-wing politics Christian Democracy , who invented the name and the symbol of The Olive Tree with Artur...
. 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 Circe

Circe

In Greek mythology, Circe , is a Queen goddess living on the island of Aeaea.Circe's father was Helios , the god of the sun and the owner of the land where Odysseus' men ate cattle, and her mother was Hecate the goddess of magic and the moon ; she was sister of two kings of Colchis, Aeetes and Perses, and of Pasipha?, mother of the Mino...
, Telegonus

Telegonus

In Greek mythology, Telegonus was the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus.When Telegonus grew up, Circe sent him to find Odysseus, who by this time had finally returned to Ithaca from the Trojan War....
, with whom she becomes the mother of Italus

Italus

Italus was a legendary king of the Sicels or Oenotrians, who were among the earliest inhabitants of Italy. In his Fabularum Liber , Gaius Julius Hyginus recorded the myth that Italus was a son of Penelope and Telegonus....
. Telemachus also marries Circe

Circe

Aeaea

Aeaea was a possibly Greek mythology island said to be the home of the sorceress Circe.Though the somewhat inconsistent geography of the Odyssey is more mythic than literal, Aeaea was later identified by classical Roman writers with Mount Circeo on Cape Circeo on the western coast of Italy — about 100 kilometers south of Rome &md...
.

Suitors

Penelope's suitors

Courtship

Courtship is the traditional dating period before engagement and marriage. During a courtship, a couple dates to get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement....
were called ???st??e? (Proci in Latin) by Homer

Homer

Homer is traditionally held to be the author of the ancient Greek language epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as of the Homeric Hymns....
.

In Popular Culture

in the TV show Lost
Lost

Lost may refer to:The ABC television series:* Lost , a drama television series which follows the lives of plane crash survivors who land on a mysterious island...
, the character Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume

Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher....
is lost for several years after a voyage and ends up trapped on the island. His faithful love interest, who waits for him at home, is called Penny Widmore in reference to the Penelope myth. There is also possible reference to this myth in LOST regarding the number 108, which frequently oucurrs throughout the mythology of the show.

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 Penelopiad
The Penelopiad

The Penelopiad is a novella by Margaret Atwood. It was published in 2005 as part of the first set of books in the Canongate Myth Series where contemporary authors rewrite ancient Mythology....
by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, Order of Canada is a Canada author, poet, literary criticism, feminist and activism. She is among the most-honored authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C....
retells the story of Odysseus
Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greeks king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
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)