In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Penelope, the wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus, is a modern hero because she remains patient, intelligent, and devoted throughout the poem. For nearly twenty years, she waits for her husband Odysseus to return from the Trojan War while running her palace on the island of Ithaca and raising her son on her own. During this time, suitors persistently pursue her and take advantage of her husband’s absence. Although she is a woman in a male dominated society, she takes the role of a female heroine: she capably deals with the suitors and displays great intelligence while doing so.
Without any knowledge of where her husband is or if he is alive, Penelope is allowed to remarry and even though there is little hope of his return and many men are eager to marry her, she is determined to wait for her husband because of her patience and loyalty. When the suitors got tired of waiting, they began to pressure her to choose whom to marry. She shows how clever she is when she tells the suitors she will marry one of them but to “’let [her] finish [her] weaving before [she] [marries].(Book 2, Line 22)” She would weave all day and …show more content…
She orders Eurycleia to “Make up his bed for him” and to “Place it outside the bedchamber. (Book 23, Lines 27 and 28)” By doing this, she tests the man claiming to be her husband; the only ones to have ever laid eyes on their bed are her and Odysseus. When Odysseus gives her details on how the bed is built from the trunk of an olive tree, she responds “Forgive me, don’t be angry. I could not /welcome you with love on sight! I armed myself /long ago against frauds of men, /impostors who might come-and all those many /whose underhanded ways bring evil on! (Book 23, Lines 63-67)” She tells Odysseus how she has used her intelligence to remained devoted to him and how she has been patient and cautious all these
Without any knowledge of where her husband is or if he is alive, Penelope is allowed to remarry and even though there is little hope of his return and many men are eager to marry her, she is determined to wait for her husband because of her patience and loyalty. When the suitors got tired of waiting, they began to pressure her to choose whom to marry. She shows how clever she is when she tells the suitors she will marry one of them but to “’let [her] finish [her] weaving before [she] [marries].(Book 2, Line 22)” She would weave all day and …show more content…
She orders Eurycleia to “Make up his bed for him” and to “Place it outside the bedchamber. (Book 23, Lines 27 and 28)” By doing this, she tests the man claiming to be her husband; the only ones to have ever laid eyes on their bed are her and Odysseus. When Odysseus gives her details on how the bed is built from the trunk of an olive tree, she responds “Forgive me, don’t be angry. I could not /welcome you with love on sight! I armed myself /long ago against frauds of men, /impostors who might come-and all those many /whose underhanded ways bring evil on! (Book 23, Lines 63-67)” She tells Odysseus how she has used her intelligence to remained devoted to him and how she has been patient and cautious all these