Within Homer’s Odyssey, there is a sole personality that protrudes from the rest. This personality belongs to Penelope, and it is this personality that composes her identity. Penelope is a unique female figure, who differs tremendously from other women within the epic, and ancient Greece. She possesses traits women in 13th and 12th century BC Greece did not, and could not possess. Penelope holds attributes men despised in women, and she displays them proudly. The intelligence and knowledge that occupies her identity is unlike that of women in her time period. Penelope lacks the submissive quality women were expected to demonstrate, and after Odysseus leaves for the Trojan war, she takes on a role similar to that of the head of the household,
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It was not an expectation. It was a requirement, a necessity. This was enforced by men. Women were to tend to the household. Arguably, “women in ancient Greece were tied to managing the home” (Scott 40). They were to be submissive to their husbands’, and to proceed with any actions requested of them, without hesitation. In the patriarchal society, men regulated all aspects of life, and women were to do as they were told. No one disobeyed these social standards. No one, except Penelope. Penelope has no issue disobeying the social norms imposed upon her by the men of her society. She refuses to stay conformed to the rigid standards expected of her, and does as she pleases, regardless of the possible consequences. She acts on her own agenda, not the agenda of the society. Penelope is displeased with the song the bard is playing, so she orders him to stop, saying “with your knowledge of the ballads that poets have made about the deeds of men or gods you could enchant us with many other tales, rather than this” (1.336-338). She makes her request in a respectful manner. Though, she asks a male bard to perform a different song, an action is considered rude and disrespectful. It was not her place to intrude, but she does so anyways. Penelope disagrees with the social standards, and thus demonstrates that she has no care for them by ignoring them
It was not an expectation. It was a requirement, a necessity. This was enforced by men. Women were to tend to the household. Arguably, “women in ancient Greece were tied to managing the home” (Scott 40). They were to be submissive to their husbands’, and to proceed with any actions requested of them, without hesitation. In the patriarchal society, men regulated all aspects of life, and women were to do as they were told. No one disobeyed these social standards. No one, except Penelope. Penelope has no issue disobeying the social norms imposed upon her by the men of her society. She refuses to stay conformed to the rigid standards expected of her, and does as she pleases, regardless of the possible consequences. She acts on her own agenda, not the agenda of the society. Penelope is displeased with the song the bard is playing, so she orders him to stop, saying “with your knowledge of the ballads that poets have made about the deeds of men or gods you could enchant us with many other tales, rather than this” (1.336-338). She makes her request in a respectful manner. Though, she asks a male bard to perform a different song, an action is considered rude and disrespectful. It was not her place to intrude, but she does so anyways. Penelope disagrees with the social standards, and thus demonstrates that she has no care for them by ignoring them