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Penelope - Odyssey - Papers

Penelope - Odyssey

The trait of endurance that marks Odysseus is mirrored in his wife Penelope, who is unwilling either to reject or to accept marriage. The former choice would endanger her son's life and property, while the latter would end her hope of reunion with her husband. It is for this loyalty to her husband's memory that she is praised in comparison to Clytemnestra's infidelity. Like her husband, Penelope is also seen as clever. She is able to trick the suitors and delay a decision of marriage by carefully knitting Laertes' shroud by day and removing the stitches at night. Since the shroud is never finished, she is able to postpone a decision about matrimony.

Penelope does not allow herself to ...

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her into an incapacitating melancholy. Though she doubts the beggar's prediction about Odysseus' homecoming, she acts upon it, declaring her intention of marrying the man who can string Odysseus' bow. This expresses her inspired compromise between doubt and hope, between her memory of Odysseus' old command and her faith in today's signs. Her thoughts and dreams each night oscillate between duty and desire, and she neglects neither.

Penelope is not just heroic, beautiful, chaste, and commanding; she is also human and sometimes filled with doubt. She loves her son and is anxious for his safety. It is for his sake, in fact, that she even thinks of remarrying. She is also doubtful, especially about Odysseus' return. Even after he reveals himself to her, Penelope wants proof, which he provides in knowing about the olive tree bed.

In characterizing Penelope, Homer gives up his normal device of describing characters through their setting. As with Achilles, Homer penetrates her mind. ...

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Penelope - Odyssey. (2011, March 28). Retrieved January 7, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Penelope-Odyssey/96965

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/28/2011 12:53:01 PM
Submitted By: livreid
Category: European History
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 458
Pages: 2

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