For my part of the discussion based on Books 17 to 24 I will want to discuss closer the character of Odysseus’ s wife, Penelope. In my opinion Penelope is a very complex character. While it is hard not to agree that her husband, Odysseus is easily describable as a cunning and brave hero I find it much harder to assess Penelope’s personality. It can be assumed that such champion as Odysseus deserves a great wife that can at least match his virtues. Is Penelope as strong as Odysseus, is she worthy being a wife of this Greek iconic hero? Does she reflect the traits that Odysseus has? Is her way of handling the absence of her husband and harassment of the suitors worth admiring just as much as how Odysseus fought his way back home or does it prove that Penelope is a weak person?
The article that inspired me to ask these and similar question is Penelope’s Role in the Odyssey: Ideal Wife and Lover – A Female Odysseus by Alex Sisti. The author of this article claims that Penelope is the equal of Odysseus and fully worth being his wife. As the title of the article suggest, Alex Sisti goes even further and says and she is the female version of Odysseus and is an example of a perfect Homeric wife and lover. Do you agree with this? Do you admire Penelope as a character and do you put her on the same level as Odysseus? Which virtues makes her Odysseus soul mate and which of her characteristics speaks against her? Is Penelope a woman that you could admire rigtht now, in our reality?
12 responses so far ↓
Tanzil Uddin // Sep 16th 2014 at 6:45 pm
Great discussion today: wrapping it all up for us! we discussed this individually, and in a group along with the class as well so I’m not going to “beat the dead horse” here! One thing I will add however, is i liked how you basically credited the article you used: I don’t lead discussion until December but you proved professors point on how the use of these articles indeed benefits us for the discussions.
Michelle Dai // Sep 17th 2014 at 9:51 am
Interesting discussion. I admit that I have not thought that Penelope’s dream of the geese revealed much of her personality, as it served primarily as foreshadow. Yet, it is possible that she enjoys the attention that her suitors give her, as she expressed a certain degree of sadness when the geese were killed.
c.mansook // Sep 17th 2014 at 2:26 pm
Well done on your discussion, it was very interesting how you compare Penelopes personality with Odysseus. I haven’t put much thought into how their personality is similar, but I have to agree that they are very similar in many ways. For example, how Penelopes gets some- kind of happiness with the suitors-by having them shower her with presents, similarly with Odysseus, he got pleasures from temptations. In addition, Penelope knows how to manipulate people to get her ways just like Odysseus lying his way throughout his entire journey.
lb153586 // Sep 17th 2014 at 3:43 pm
I very much enjoyed you discussion because I also didn’t think much of Penelope’s character until you raised the point in class. Thinking about it, I found that her character was similar to Odysseus but not identical, so I’m not sure if I would consider Penelope his equal as you stated. They are similar in that they both induced many personal hardships and share character traits such as cunning, brave and clever. On the other hand, Penelope remained faithful for 20 years even if she did flirt and tease the suitors, while Odysseus had affairs with Calypso and Circe. All in all, your discussion and discussion questions made me think about “The Odyssey” in a completely different manner which actually made me enjoy the book more in the end.
AYANNAH WOODS // Sep 17th 2014 at 10:05 pm
I loved the way your presentation brought out hidden characteristics of Penelope. Prior to this discussion I didn’t think much of her role in the Odyssey. However, after your opening questions I was forced to look at Penelope’s character in a deeper way. The layers to her personality revealed that she is just as sneaky, powerful, strong and clever as Odyseuss is. Although her sneaky traits are a bit disappointing, it does not take away from the richness of her character.
z.aydiner // Sep 18th 2014 at 10:01 am
The book doesn’t talk much about Penelope, as opposed to other characters. Great discussion on bringing up a topic that analyzes the similarities and differences of Penelope and Odysseus. Penelope has more of a shy and quite personality whereas Odysseus has an outspoken, storytelling personality. The similarities that they share are that they are both tricky in some situations and are able to go after what they want. Penelope was sneaky in her ways to keep from marrying the suitors as well as how she managed to get Odysseus to speak up about who he really was. She’s also gullible because when the suitors were talking about killing Telemachus, she overheard. She told them not to and they lied and said they wouldn’t. She believed them. Although Penelope and Odysseus are much different in character, they have some similarities.
Vishnu Dawah // Sep 25th 2014 at 3:16 pm
I think that it’s interesting to compare Odysseus’ travel back home to Penelope’s behavior toward the suitors. Odysseus was faced with many hardships on his journey home. Penelope had to keep the suitors busy and maintain Odysseus’ home for his homecoming. Even though Penelope didn’t know whether Odysseus was alive or not, she continued to look after the palace. Penelope tricked the suitors by saying she would marry one of them, which gave Odysseus time to unleash his wrath on the suitors. Even though Penelope liked being admired by the suitors, I don’t think she is a weak person because it still took a lot of effort to stall them. Penelope remained faithful to Odysseus and would rather die than marry someone else.
Kihun Kwon // Sep 29th 2014 at 6:39 pm
I always thought Penelope was a minor character in the Odyssey because of her passiveness throughout the book except towards the end. I never gave her much attention while reading. However, your discussion questions made me realize Penelope’s true personality. She made not have her husband’s physical strength, but she is cunning and elusive like him. Although, I am not completely convinced about the connection with her dream and her desire to play with men. I think it is a plausible explanation to her crying over the geese, but I just don’t see it as her being upset about not flirting with the suitors anymore.
Eric heo // Sep 29th 2014 at 7:02 pm
When I first read The Odyssey in high school, I did not realize that Penelope reflects some characteristics of Odysseus. However, after you led discussion, I realized that she holds similar traits to him. They are both cunning, underestimated, and brave. Although she lacks Odysseus’ physical strengths, she was able to manipulate the suitors into falling for her plans. Like Odysseus never giving up on getting home, Penelope never really gives up on Odysseus. She remained faithful to Odysseus and in a way, this portrays the similarities between them.
r.akther // Sep 29th 2014 at 9:27 pm
I enjoyed starting of your discussion with a lot of confidence and great questions. The idea of bringing up Odyssey and Penelope characteristics were very thoughtful. This is the first time I read “The Odyssey” and it was great for me to have class discussion about odyssey. I think Penelope was as strong as Odyssey because they had very strong feelings and were faithful to get together again. In the mean time suitors could not convince to marry Penelope and take their kingdom.
ALEXANDRIA PORTER // Sep 30th 2014 at 1:24 pm
I do not see her as heroic, her husband Odysseus had a long but successful battle in Troy and was fortunate enough to make it out with his life. After a 20year journey back home after being held captive on a island, loosing shipmates/friends, his encounter with the cyclops, sirens and having to travel all the way to Hadies. In my opinion I see Penelope as a weak character, her husband Odysseus went through hell and back to make it back to his home and family. Her only job was to take care of there home and family but she let men disrespect both, the suitors were even planning to kill her son to get to her. Penelope comes off as passive aggressive, she allowed the suitors to disrespect her home, they ate and took what they wanted and she didn’t put a stop to it. After being backed in a corner Penelope told the suitors that she would remarry when she is finished weaving, by day she would weave and by night she would unweave what she did in the day. This is deceiving bc she didn’t have any intesions to finish weaving because she didn’t want to remarry. Penelope should have had a lot more respect for herself as well as courage to take charge of what was going on. Penelope could be Odysseus soul mate because she is his opposite he is tough, a fighter and strong minded. While Penelope is soft spoken, patient and persuasive.
Jesette A. Marrero // Sep 30th 2014 at 5:38 pm
Alexandria, I do understand your stance and agree with you about Penelope being Odysseus’ soulmate, however, I disagree that they are opposites. I believe they are uniquely identical in their ways- specifically, in deceiving. Throughout the entire story, we are given examples of Odysseus’ being conniving; a master of deceit. I believe Penelope to be as conniving as her husband; she lies to the suitor about weaving, and then she uses the story of the marriage bed. She is a master of deceit just like her husband, “a match made in heaven.”