The interpretation of Penelope

The interpretation of Penelope

The interpretation of Penelope as a woman in the Odysseus is exciting and captivating. Following the feature of the story, Penelope spends about twenty years in loneliness filled with tears as she waits for her husband to return from the Trojan War that had since ended a long time ago. During this moment, it happens that she spends this time from the cave and bed of two beautiful goddesses as she cares for her son and wards of the advancements of her suitors. Juxtaposed with Penelope, Odysseus fits the same description as the loving husband in Greek mythology. Despite not being home for more than two decades, his fit and wit to continuously think of Penelope and his family are captivating. That said, Penelope and Odysseus are the perfect match mentally despite at the height of their separation; they show brevity and a non-tragic relationship and devotion to each other.

Through the Greek mythologies and traditions, both genders, men and women, have been oppressed and dominated by roles that have been traditionally assigned and meant for human survival. To begin with, patriarchy is an evident historical theme in many Greek ancient myths. This is the case where even in the Odyssey is about a man. For example, it says so at the beginning of the poem with the line, “Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns” (North 159). As notable in the Odyssey, marriages were arranged between families or structured dependent on a matrilineal system. During this moment, marriages were not romantic and had no legal force of its own rather a personal agreement between the bride and the groom. Notably, divorce was unheard of, and it is for this reason that Penelope remained loyal to Odysseus (Lesser 64). Penelope matches as a true and faithful woman whose will and honour towards her husband are tested to the limit.

Further, it was thought that by almost all the people of Ithaka without a doubt that Odysseus was dead. Hence, he will not be returning anytime soon from the battle in Troy. However, deep down inside Penelope, she believes that he is still alive and that he will be returning home soon (Lesser 129). Other people told her that he is gone and will not be returning home; she somehow knew that it is not true. Meanwhile, there were suitors all over who want her hand in marriage and trying their best to take over (Lesser 71). Despite her being stubborn, they are proving relentless on their mission by not backing down. They will not leave the walls that still belong to Odysseus and are not willing to listen to Telemachus who tells them that they should leave. On the other end, Odysseus is seemingly going through the same ordeal following the fact that he has been away from his wife and family for long. Regardless, he has tried to remain loyal and showing unending love hoping to return Ithaka to Penelope. In this interesting unfold, Odysseus meets Circe, an obsessed witch, who has refused to let her go and kept him hostage in her island (Lesser 163). Following his return to Ithaka, Odysseus meets a strange event where he finds that there are suitors after his wife. However, he did not observe that Penelope had now moved on but rather aimed to find out the happenings (Lesser 174; North 156). He later slaughtered all the suitors and reunited with Penelope and his family. Thus, based on these narrations, it is evident that the couple, and against all the odds, is the perfect match for each other mentally.

Penelope is an ideal match for Odysseus based on how she stayed strong for more than 20 years (Lesser 86). It had been more than two decades since Odysseus had been gone to participate in the Trojan War and had not returned. Amidst this gap, the kingdom of Ithaka used a matrilineal system; hence, suitors made their advancements to Penelope. Many suitors had come to woo the “the widow” (North 155). However, Penelope remained faithful to Odysseus and hopeful that he will still return home. Therefore, she used tricks to ward them off (Lesser 76). For example, she put them away with a ruse telling that they have to wait until she has finished a funeral shroud for Laertes, Odysseus’ father. At this moment, she wove the shroud by day, and cunningly she unraveled during the night when the suitors were away. She went on with this behaviour for three years. However, the suitors were also unrelenting; they invited themselves; hence they were uninvited guests, eating Odysseus out of his house and home. However, one day, the suitors managed to discover Penelope’s cunning behaviour, and it was at this point that they demanded she should make a decision (Lesser 173). Still, Penelope was not ready to move on, and hence she came up with another excuse for the suitors; they were to participate in an archery contest. She told them that “she would marry whoever could string Odysseus’s bow and fire it through 12 axes” (Lesser 154). She still held the cunning behaviour, and she gave them a bow that belonged to Eurytus, who was a professional archer. Hence, she knew that none of the suitors could wield it. Following this exposition, it is evident that Penelope’s love for Odysseus was unending and still believed that he was alive. While her husband was away, Penelope remained faithful in Ithaka despite him not returning for a very long period. In these moments, she tried by all her wit to stay aloof. She was desperate enough to avoid remarriage and thus conceived the idea of postponing her decision until she completed weaving the shroud meant for Laertes. She further delayed remarriage by providing them with an archery challenge. Thus, her faithfulness and chastity make her the ideal woman for Odysseus as she kept herself from the bawdy revelry of the suitors.

Odysseus and Penelope suit one another where their love exists following the fact that they found each other in absolute freedom and independence. In essence, the love between Odysseus and Penelope is ethical, where the two parties fell in love with each other because they felt it was the right decision. Romantic feelings and emotions exist in an uncontrolled manner. However, a person can still choose to influence them, either by letting them grow or pushing them. In this sense, love can be considered as an ethical component where freedom is required. Thus, if a person is obliged to love someone, then the love is not real. Back to the story and after two decades, Odysseus is ready to return home from war and adventure (Kamuf 195). He returns to Ithaka disguised as a beggar with a ragged beard and tattered clothes. He seeks the help of Eumaeus, his counselor, and Telemachus, who both at first did not recognize him (Kamuf 196). They plan to amuse Penelope and the suitors who had now gotten impatient and decided to partake in the archery challenge to win Penelope’s love and affection. At this stance, Odysseus understands that he must confront his nightmare where the enemies are disrespecting his family in his palace (Kamuf 196). Luckily, Odysseus wins the battle, and with the help of his son, he slaughters all the suitors. However, Penelope is still not convinced that the “beggar” is Odysseus, and hence she calls upon Euryclea to bath him (Grethlein 74). Euryclea, the family nurse, recognized that it was her master after touching the scar above his knee while washing his feet (Grethlein 75). Telemachus is even surprised that her mother could not recognize him and accuses her that she has a heart of stone. Still, Penelope is not ready to hand power to a stranger. Odysseus then approaches her and tells on their secret bed which he had made out of olive wood (Grethlein 78) and could not be moved because one of its posts had been carved from a living olive tree that had grown up from a patch in the ground and now where their bedroom is located (Kamuf 179). Thus, it is this truth that Penelope regained complete trust. This scenario shows that the love between Penelope and Odysseus is founded on freedom and autonomy. When Odysseus returned to Ithaka, he did not use force (Kamuf 201) instead traced back his love to prove to Penelope that it is indeed him and not a stranger who wants to be king. Despite the years, the distance, and the pain, love exists in an environment of freedom and independence implicit in Penelope and Odysseus’ relationship.

Odysseus and Penelope are ideal for each other because their love was conceptualized on their first encounter. Ideally, Odysseus was a young King in the land of Greece and had been called to a council involving all the Greek kings and leaders in Sparta (Kamuf 104). The meeting aimed to find a suitor for Princess Helen. Thus, Odysseus was one of Helen’s suitors who had come to compete for her hand in marriage. However, Odysseus saw Penelope, Helen’s cousin, immediately when he had arrived in the Sparta palace and was intrigued by her beauty (Grethlein 83). The aftermath of Helen’s arranged marriage was filled with literal wars between the suitors who were beating each other and threatening war over Helen’s hand. It is for this reason that Helen was referred to as the “Lady of Sorrows”; because so many men lost their lives fighting for her sake in the plains of Troy (Richardson 136). Immediately Odysseus withdrew his bid for Helen’s hand and in return, vowed that he would protect whoever will marry her. At this position, Odysseus advised King Tyndareus, Helen’s father, that he should make an oath that will defend the favoured bridegroom against harm with respect to their marriage (Richardson 139). This oath was also made as trade with Penelope’s uncle in exchange that he would help him win her niece as a wife if he could stop the Greek lords from fighting (Grethlein 85). The Oath of Tyndareus was preserved, and Menelaus married Helen, and thanks to it, Odysseus also managed to marry Penelope. Thus, Odysseus and Penelope are ideal for each other, where he saw her for the first day and knew that they are meant to be.

Odysseus serve as an ideal mate when he wanted to dishonour the Oath of Tyndareus so that he could be with his family. Notably, later after Menelaus married Helen, she was abducted from Sparta and married by one of the seducers, Paris (North 159). This prompted all the princes of Hellas to forge war against Troy. In this case, Odysseus had to join the alliance of Sparta and Menelaus to sail against Troy to demand the restoration of Helen (Liang 46; North 160). However, Odysseus was not willing to waste his life and honour the oath by spending it in wars and fights. He wanted to remain with his family, especially now that Penelope had given birth to Telemachus (Grethlein 80). He decided to feign madness and played the fool (Grethlein 82). However, Palamedes, Nestor, and Menelaus still came to Ithaka and knew that Odysseus is only pretending. Palamedes snatched Telemachus from Penelope’s bosom and put him in front of the plow that Odysseus was using so that he would give up his pretense (Grethlein 85). This event outwitted him, and he was forced to join the alliance. It is for this reason that the clever Palamedes had to be killed by Odysseus for he had spoilt his sweet home life. Thus, Odysseus’ desire to dishonour the Oath of Tyndareus to be with his family shows that he an ideal match for Penelope.

Following Homer’s epic, Odysseus and Penelope serve as the perfect match for each other mentally. First, the couple remained faithful for two decades, waiting for each other. Penelope went to the extent of keeping suitors in faith that Odysseus will still return from the Trojan War. Like ethics, Penelope’s and Odysseus’ love was not limited but existed in the space of absolute freedom and autonomy. They both made free choices about their lives and found each other again. Odysseus is an ideal mate for Penelope, whereby he saw her for the first day and knew that he indeed wanted to be her against all the odds. He went to the extent of sealing the Oath of Tyndareus so that Penelope’s uncle would help him win her as a wife. Additionally, the couple is ideal for each other where Odysseus risked his life and went to the Trojan War in honour of the oath that he had made to get Penelope’s hand in marriage; the same war that kept them apart for two decades and which tested their love. Thus, based on these expositions it is explicit that Odysseus and Penelope are a perfect match for each other and their love story shows the importance of perseverance despite all the odds coming their way.