Penelope of Ithaca

Penelope of Ithaca

Penelope was the daughter of Icarius, of Sparta. Her father was the brother of Tyndareus, making her a cousin to Helen of Troy, and Clytemnestra. It was during the contest for Helen’s hand that Odysseus was able to wed Penelope. Odysseus knew he had little chance of winning Helen, as he was not as wealthy as some of the other suitors; he instead used his greatest asset, cunning, to secure a wife. He approached Tyndareus with the offer of a trade; in exchange for Penelope’s hand, he, Odysseus, would guarantee that the choice for Helen’s husband would end in peace. Fortunately, for all involved, the match between Odysseus and Penelope appears to have been a good one, and they produce a son, Telemachus.

Throughout the long twenty years of his absence, Penelope earns the title of the ideal wife. And she is, in many ways. She keeps the household and raises her son to be a fine young man, exhibits xenia to all who come to her home and works diligently at her weaving, quiet, serious and constant. Above all other things, she is chaste, loyal and virtuous, despite the presence of 108 suitors vying for her hand in marriage. Although it is certainly true that Penelope does embody the elements of an ideal wife, it can be argued that she becomes the driving force of Odysseus’ journey and a central presence in the plot.

While Penelope’s wifely virtues have been recorded for centuries upon close examination we may see that there is considerably more to her than that. She is in a very precarious position during her husband’s absence, and when the suitors begin demanding she choose among them, she could find herself in trouble. Certainly she is aware that her son’s coming of age will have ramifications. It would be easy for one, or more, of the many suitors to kill him before, or after, she remarries. It is her intelligence that keeps the suitors at bay and creates some semblance of peace in Ithaca. The weaving and unraveling of the funeral shroud is the best known example of her cunning. During the day she weaves a shroud for her father-in-law and unravels it during the night, fooling the suitors.

Furthermore, her role in the overall plot structure cannot be ignored. It is important to remember that the Odyssey is about a journey home. Penelope represents that home; she kept it alive as a place for Odysseus to return to. Odysseus turned away from immortality, turned away from all of the delight that Circe and Calypso could have given him, to get home to Penelope and Telemachus. To have a life shared at home.

Finally, we must acknowledge