The Penelope Story

 The Penelope Story

While the faithful Penelope waited for twenty years in Ithaca for the return of her wandering husband Odysseus, the hero spent his time cavorting and canoodling for a total of eight years with a couple of sexy ladies somewhere in the Mediterranean. These were no one-night stands. He spent a full year with Circe and seven years with Calypso. But did Odysseus actually cheat on his wife Penelope? Well technically he did not, because all the sex that happened on his journey home to his faithful wife came as a result of him being summoned to the beds of two goddesses. Circe and Calypso issued him divine commands and these were considered sacred and compelled to be obeyed by any god-fearing human. The gods do not look favourably upon those mortals who do not obey their wishes, and so we can argue that Odysseus just did as he was commanded. As they say in the old song, “I don’t like it but I guess things happen that way.” I bounced this idea off my own good and faithful wife (PhD Classics) and she suggested that it sounded like an argument concocted by a man.

So cheated on or not, who was Penelope and why is she important to the story? Penelope was the wife of Odysseus and the mother of their son Telemachus. She was the queen of Ithaca and the daughter of the Spartan king Icarius. Penelope was the cousin of Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, and of Clytemnestra, the wife of King Agamemnon of Mycenae. Penelope is always portrayed as being the direct opposite of her two cousins. Helen was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world and her unfaithfulness with Paris was the root cause of the Trojan War. She abandons her daughter and robs the royal treasury to flee with her paramour and on account of her are launched 1,186 ships. Clytemnestra is pictured as harsh and unforgiving and she and her lover Aegisthus assassinate her husband in his bathtub on the day that he returns from the war. In contrast, Penelope is always seen as less beautiful, more faithful, always loving, a devoted wife and mother, and ever forgiving. She is also very cunning and very wise.

To appreciate fully the character of Penelope, one must first understand the role played by women, and especially wives, in ancient Greece. The primary role of a wife was focused on managing the house and bearing children. In addition to making sure that all family members were well cared-for, the wife also supervised the household slaves and servants and controlled the budget. Men were out and about, engaged in social, public, political or military activities, while wives were generally confined to the home and seldom participated in public affairs, other than religious ones. They were discouraged from interacting with men from outside their immediate families and had few legal and property rights.

Managing the household usually centered on meal preparation, the production and repair of clothing, supervising and engaging in spinning and weaving, and looking after the upkeep of the home and property. Any slaves or servants that the family had who helped with household duties needed to be directed, supervised and sometimes punished. As far as financial management was concerned, the wife also controlled the family budget, managed foodstuffs and stock, planned expenditures and ensured that all resources were used wisely.

Bearing children and raising them was a critical part of a wife’s overall responsibilities. Sons were especially important to families in ancient Greece, because sons would carry on the family line and bring further prosperity to the family. Boys were better educated than girls and received both a formal education as well as training in both physical and military matters. Girls were raised to be copies of their mothers and their education consisted mainly of training in domestic affairs. Girls were also viewed as bargaining chips for their ability to attract suitable partners as potential brides. The duties of a wife and the way her children were raised depended greatly on the social standing and wealth of her husband. Wealthy women, who had more slaves, did less of the household work themselves and their children received a broader education. Women in poorer households were forced to do more of the mundane tasks, and her children were more apt to be helping her rather than to be learning the finer aspects of life.

The expectation was that a wife would be totally faithful to her husband. Men, on the other hand, had a much freer life when it came to sex outside of marriage. Men generally married later in life, so it was not unusual for them to frequent prostitutes when they were younger. Likewise, men were often away from home fighting wars, and prostitution was not disapproved in such cases. In fact, prostitution was not seen as a clandestine practice, but was out in the open and state regulated. There were even state-run brothels where costs were controlled and taxes were paid in what was considered a socially acceptable occupation. Sex outside of marriage was certainly not acceptable for women. Chastity was expected before marriage and during widowhood and adultery during marriage was considered a crime, and the husband was allowed to take the law into his own hands and mete out punishment for the infraction.

When we look at all these factors, we come to the conclusion that Penelope was portrayed by Homer as the epitome of the perfect wife in the Odyssey. She bore and raised his child, managed all the household affairs, did some of the work herself, supervised the servants, and most importantly, remained faithful to a husband who had been absent for twenty years. In addition, she showed wisdom, strategy and cunning at every step along the way. The story of the Odyssey highlights Penelope’s intelligence, loyalty and resilience in the face of a number of adversities and is as much a story about Penelope, as it is about her husband’s journey, cunning, return and eventual triumph in regaining his throne.

Telemachus sets the stage for us when he speaks to the visiting goddess and gives us an indication of the situation in which his mother Penelope finds herself.

All the nobles who rule over the islands, Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus and those who are lords of rocky Ithaca, all of these are courting my mother and consuming our household. She does not refuse this terrible marriage nor can she make it end. They are totally consuming my livelihood and it will not be long before they destroy me as well.

After a twenty year absence, Penelope still misses her husband dearly and mourns the fact that she is without him. As the bard Phemius sings about the return of the Achaeans from Troy, she confronts him and asks that he sing about more pleasant things.

Phemius, you know many things that are charming to mortals, the deeds of men and gods that you make famous in song. Sing about one of these as you sit here and let them drink their wine in silence. Cease this baneful song for it distresses my dear heart and above all other women it brings me sorrows that cannot be forgotten. It reminds me so much of that dear head, my husband, whose fame is so well known in Hellas and throughout the middle of Argos.

Penelope even accepts the rebuke of her son and in so doing she paints us a picture of the subservient role that women played in ancient Greece. But we know that Penelope is anything but subservient and this will be borne out by her future actions in the narrative.

For yourself, submit your heart and your mind to what you hear, for not only Odysseus lost the day of his return home in Troy, but many other men were also destroyed there. So go to your room and busy yourself with your work at the loom and the distaff and bid your handmaidens to be busy at their tasks. Speaking shall be the realm of men only and especially for me, since I am the lord of this domain.

But for now, Homer tells us that she went back to her chamber, seized with bewilderment for she was conscious in her heart of the wise words of her son. The next morning it is revealed that Penelope has deceived the suitors with a cunning ruse. Telemachus is told by the suitor Antinous,

It is not the Achaeans suitors who are to blame, but your own mother for she profits all around. It has now been three years and the fourth is coming that she has been maltreating the hearts in the breasts of the Achaeans. To all men she sends hope and has promises for each of them and sends them messages of encouragement but her mind eagerly desires other things. In her mind she has devised another cunning trick. She set up a large loom in her great hall and set upon weaving on a wide web with fine thread and straightaway she spoke to us about it.

She told them that she was weaving a funeral shroud for the noble Laertes and that she could not possibly even think about marriage until the shroud was finished. For over three years she wove by day and then at night she snuck back to her loom and unraveled the work that had been done that day. Eventually one of her handmaidens discovered her trick and reported it to the suitors and they increased their pressure on her to marry one of them.

Telemachus agreed that it was time for his mother to choose a suitable husband but pleaded for one last chance to find out about the fate of his father. He planned a trip to Pylos and Sparta to question their leaders about what they might know about the demise of Odysseus but asked that information about his trip be kept from his loving mother until he was safely away and distant from Ithaca. From his conversation with his nurse, we get an insight into Penelope’s role as a loving mother.

Then the wise Telemachus answered her, “Take heart dear nurse for I do not act without a plan from the gods. But I swear that I will reveal none of this to my mother before the eleventh or twelfth day shall come or until she misses me or hears of my going so that her dear skin is not marred by her weeping.”

When she at last discovers that Telemachus has left in search of his father and that the suitors are planning to kill him when he returns, she is beyond consoling.

Over her there poured life-destroying grief and she could not bring herself to sit down on one of the many seats in the house but she sank down on the threshold of her beautifully fashioned chamber with pitiable wailing and around her all her handmaidens wept, all who were in the house, both young and old.

And now my well-loved son has gone aboard a hollow ship, just a lad who knows little about the works and gatherings of men. For him I grieve, even more than for the other one and I fear and tremble in case something happens to him, either in the land where he has gone or upon the sea. There are many who are hostile towards him and wish to slay him before he returns to his native land.

This action takes place in Book IV of the Odyssey and we do not see Penelope again until she reappears in Book XVI. Her lengthy absence is unusual for a character who is so central to the entire story. It is almost as if Homer sandwiched the story of Odysseus and his journey between the two bookends of the story of Penelope. Penelope’s story at the beginning and the end of the Odyssey is set in the present tense, and the story of Odysseus is set in the past tense, relating things that have already happened. Her story wraps around his and gives the hero’s story a framework.

When Penelope learned that her son has returned to Ithaca, her strength came to the forefront and she confronted Alcinous, the leader of the suitors.

Now it is his house that you seek to dishonour and to marry his wife and to slay his son and on me you bring great distress. I urge you to put an end to this and to command the others to cease as well.

Eurymachus voiced his support for her and Telemachus and she was comforted by his words, little realizing that he too was plotting the death of her son. But Penelope gained new hope that all would turn out well when Theoclymenus told her that he had spotted a large bird of prey that was indeed an omen signifying that Odysseus had returned. Her response to him was, O stranger, how I wish that what you declare would come to pass and then you would receive such affection and gifts from me that all who met you would call you blessed.

            The cunning Penelope then hatched a plan to deceive the suitors even further. She appeared before them in her loveliest manner and advised them that she was preparing to accept a marriage proposal from one of the group. In fact she was using this clever ruse to motivate them to heap gifts upon her in anticipation of being the chosen one, and in so doing increase the bounty of her own household and that of Odysseus. The hero saw through her plan and was pleased.

The night approaches when a hateful marriage shall be thrust upon me, one so cursed whose happiness has been taken away by Zeus. For such grief and pain has come upon my heart for the suitors have not behaved like this before. Those who wish to court a noble lady and the daughter of a wealthy man and compete with one another, usually bring cattle and fat flocks, hold a banquet for the friends of the girl and give her lovely gifts. But what they do not do is eat up the livelihood of another man without paying the price for doing so.

Thus she spoke and the much-enduring godlike Odysseus rejoiced because she was able to wangle gifts from them and she bewitched their minds with gentle words, but her own mind eagerly desired something else.

We see Homer’s deep regard for Penelope when we listen to Odysseus compare her to a blameless king. The bard actually places her on a pedestal that is higher than the hero’s, because we know from his actions that he is a king who is anything but blameless.

My Lady, no man living on earth could find fault with you for your fame rises to the highest heaven, just like the fame of some blameless king, who with the fear of the gods in his heart, rules over many strong men, dispensing justice, and the black earth bears wheat and barley and the trees are heavy with fruit and the flocks bear young without end and the sea offers up its bounty, all under his good leadership and the people prosper under him.

The noble and wise Penelope reveals more of her character to us when she describes the nature of a good man to the disguised Odysseus and then later when she talks about the significance of dreams. In both passages we see Homer’s high regard for the heroine as well as her insight and wisdom.

Men come into being and are short-lived. If a man is cruel and has a cruel heart, all men will curse him while he is alive and mock him after he is dead. But if a man is blameless and has a noble heart, then his fame will be carried far and wide by all men and they will all regard him as a good man.

Stranger, dreams are very confusing and of unclear meaning and they do not always find their fulfillment among men. For there are two gates in shadowy dreams, one built of horn and one of ivory. Those dreams that enter through the gate of sawn ivory are deceptive and bear no fulfillment. But dreams that pass through the gate of well-polished horn will find fulfillment when seen by mortals.

            The cunning Penelope then set up the contest with the bow and the twelve axes, knowing that success for any of the suitors would be nigh on impossible. This was another of her cunning ruses that bought her additional time.

Listen to me you heroic suitors, you who have decided to eat and drink in this house endlessly, since the man of the house has been gone for such a long time and you have not been able to find any other pretext for doing so other than the fact that you want to marry me and take me for your wife. But come now suitors, since this has been revealed as your prize. I will put before you the great bow of the godlike Odysseus and whoever can string the bow in the palm of his hands and shoot an arrow through all twelve axes, then he I will follow and turn my back on the house of my wedding, a most beautiful place and filled with life and one that I will forever remember in my dreams.

But once more Penelope was rebuked by her son and she dutifully returned to her chamber and was not in the great hall when Odysseus took up the challenge of the axe handles. Telemachus knew what was about to happen and neither he nor his father wished for Penelope to witness the coming destruction of the suitors.

Go now to your own room and keep busy with your work at the distaff and the loom and order your handmaidens to do their own work. The bow shall be for men and for all and mostly for me, since I am the head of this household.”

Seized with amazement, she went back into her chamber, full in her heart with the words that her son had spoken. She went up into her chamber with her handmaidens and immediately started mourning for Odysseus, her dear husband, until the flashing-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.

When she eventually sees the slain suitors and the unfaithful handmaidens in the great hall, Penelope is not fully convinced that the beggar who stands before her with her son Telemachus is actually Odysseus who has returned home. In her wisdom she tells her son,

My child, my heart is astonished in my breast and I am not strong enough to be able to speak, to ask questions or to look him in the face. But if indeed this is Odysseus and he has come home, then the two of us can determine that with ease, for we have certain secret signs between us that are hidden from all others.

She then sets up the cunning trick of the great olive-wood marriage bed and Odysseus passes the test to her satisfaction.

Thus he spoke and her knees buckled under her where she sat and her dear heart melted for she knew full well the secret sign that Odysseus had revealed to her. Then straight away she burst into tears and rushed to him and threw her arms around the neck of Odysseus and kissed his head.

The two long-separated lovers fell into each other’s arms, returned to their marriage bed, made love and spent the night regaling each other with their stories. All’s well that ends well.

When the two of them had had their fill of love-making, they delighted themselves with talking and speaking to each other. The fair lady told him about everything that she had put up with in the great hall, looking upon the throng of destructive suitors who had slaughtered many beasts, cattle and fat sheep they had killed and many draughts of wine had been taken from the wine jars. Then Zeus-fostered Odysseus described the many woes that he had inflicted on men and all the lamentable evils that he had suffered and she was gladdened to hear his stories and sweet sleep did not fall upon her eyelids before he had had a chance to recount all his tales to her.

In his article “Penelope: The Odyssey’s Creative Thinker”, published in 2016 in The Thinker, Michael Grenke of St. John’s College summarizes Penelope’s character and gives us an interesting take on her clever weaving trick.

The Odyssey’s Penelope is a thinker, a person who is effective in facing her world and its problems by thinking her way out of them. She is, perhaps, even more of a thinker than her much-devising husband, as he is still, occasionally, given to “solving” his problems with brute force. It is in Penelope that Homer more purely explores the possibilities and limitations of Odyssean cleverness.

The emblem of Penelope’s cleverness is the device by which she tricks her suitors for three years, her weaving. She uses the weaving to buy herself time, but the weaving is itself an image of time. Time is a weaving and unweaving; it makes and unmakes beings and relations.

            As I indicated previously, it would not be too far off the mark, in my opinion, to say that the Odyssey is as much a story about Penelope as it is about Odysseus. The hero Odysseus and the heroine Penelope are on equal plains and the story of one is not complete without the story of the other. The story of Odysseus is the story of his journey home and his arrival there using his wiles and his wisdom. The story of Penelope is the story of the home to which he is traveling and how it has been made secure by her own wiles and wisdom.

It has taken a wait time of almost three millennia, but finally the Odyssey story has been retold in the voice of Penelope in Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad. Her book retells the story of the Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope and her twelve maids. The story is told in retrospect, with Penelope and the Maids in the afterlife reflecting on the events that occurred centuries before. Penelope's first person narrative is a mostly chronological account starting at her birth, while the Maids provide commentary on her narrative. It is well worth a read because it gives us a new perspective on one of Homer’s most important characters and a true heroine of the epic.