Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, chronicles the homeward bound voyage of the main character, King Odysseus of Ithaca. After Trojan War which lasted ten years, Odysseus sets foot on another adventure, which also spans ten years, to return to Ithaca. Odysseus is gone from his home for a total twenty years, but upon his arrival back to Ithaca, he finds that his title has been defended by his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus, who have been awaiting his return this entire time. Odysseus and Penelope are meant to be a model couple, so people often argue about which of the two is more admirable. To be admirable is to have faced a struggle with honor and dignity. Although Odysseus has been on a terrible journey, he has not always reacted with honor and dignity like Penelope does. Penelope shows honor and dignity when she practices xenia, does not marry a suitor, and forgives Odysseus. In Greek society, xenia is a concept which dictates the relationship between the guest and the household. The household will clothe, feed, and room the guest, while the guest in return shows respect and gratefulness. Penelope continues to practice xenia, even though the suitors “bled [Odysseus’] house to death” by eating, drinking, and stealing, “ravished the serving women [and] wooed [her without consent]” (Homer 22.37-38). Even after an instance when the suitors “broke into uproar… / [and prayed] to lie besides her [and] share her bed]” (1.420-21) when she cried about Odysseus’ absence, Penelope stilled practiced xenia. When Odysseus returns, he …show more content…
However Odysseus, despite being a good man, does not display honor and dignity when he refuses to forgive the suitors, then slaughters them all, and has an affair with Calypso. Since Penelope can react to tough situations with grace and poise, she is more admirable than
Odysseus says that he is “a man of sorrows”, so he can’t answer these questions. Penelope describes that she also has sorrows because she really doesn’t want to marry any of the suitors (185). Odysseus later
The odyssey expository essay rough draft The Odyssey, an epic poem about Odysseus, the protagonist is a hero who must go on a long journey to restore his place as king of Ithaca. For 20 years Odysseus must leave his home Ithaca to fight in the trojan war. He is put through trials of hardship to return back home. This journey has helped Odysseus grow and test him. Though Odysseus is shown to have heroic traits, he is also shown not to possess those qualities.
Penelope is the ultimate test to whether the trials of the women strengthen Odysseus’ desire for wisdom. Odysseus has to prove to Penelope that he is actually Odysseus and can only be reunited through cunning. Penelope “spoke to her husband, trying him out”(ODY 23.181), discerning whether he truly deserves her wisdom. Like the unification of Zeus with Metis, only cunning can re-unify the strength of Odysseus with the wisdom of Penelope to give birth to order. In her wisdom, Penelope realizes how deceptive that the gods are, and explains to Odysseus why she needed to try him: Do not now be angry with me nor blame me...
Homer’s epic, “The Odyssey” includes many fascinating and intriguing characters that readers can become engaged upon. Although not entirely fascinating or in any way praised, Penelope’s suitors are characterized in a stupidly ignorant and egotistical manner. Upon Athena first encounters in Ithaca, she sees the suitors abusing xenia as the “Heralds poured water over their hands for rinsing, serving maids brought bread heaped high in trays and young men brimmed the mixing-bowls with wine” (171-173). The suitors are living luxuriously as if they are the true ruler of the house, who has lived there all their lives, due to the heralds’ obedience in “rinsing” their hands and their wine “brimmed” to their mixing-bowls. A very disorderly tone is surfaced in this image, due to the suitor’s presumptuous demeanor.
Even some women were crushing on Odysseus and even held him captive Athena guided Odysseus through most of the journey. There is much cheating in the Odyssey among royalty and gods/goddesses When Odysseus finally returns back to his hometown, he is unrecognizable and rejected among his people Penelope has her doubts and holds and archery contest to prove his worth, which
Men and women throughout the ages have always had expectations based on their gender. Homer and modern day people have very different opinions on what values the perfect man or woman are obliged to fulfill. In the classic, The Odyssey, Odysseus and his wife, Penelope, had desirable traits and together they were the image of perfection. Today, Odysseus would have been disgraced for some his values and Penelope would have been praised for her weaknesses. Although Odysseus and Penelope were the ideal man and woman in their time, many standards have changed for the modern male and female.
Double standards exist everywhere you go. In society, women and men are held to different standards. Whether it comes to strength, leadership, or appearance, they affect everything and everyone. These contrasting principles also apply to sexual fidelity. Often, men are praised and looked up to to having many sexual relationships.
119 The suitors curse her for her deceitful scheme, but still they praise her for her intelligence, which in turn makes her more desirable. Regardless, Penelope manipulates her suitors without violating the social role of women in ancient Greek society; in the world of the Odysseus, the social order was fixed and hierarchical and social mobility was
When a stranger is seen, Xenia has to be put in effect also. Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous instantly offers clothing and beverage to Odysseus being a surprise to her. Nausicaa seeing Odysseus naked knew what he needed and offered it to him because being kind and warming to the guest was the point of Xenia. The social standard didn’t matter whether Xenia was put in action, it always had to be present. Penelope and the old servant treated the old beggar as any other guest, the beggar was help in the house of Penelope and Odysseus.
They both uphold the general values society places on their sexes, but through their hardships they are able to gain a fluidity in these roles not often given in their society. Odysseus was able to express emotion without undercutting his masculinity, and was able to appreciate his wife for more than her domestic accomplishments. While Penelope became a paradigm of fidelity, she also embodied inner-strength as she dealt with the turmoil of her missing husband, rowdy suitors, and the destruction of her kingdom; which allowed Odysseus to come to appreciate her ingenuity and his marriage in
Imagine landing in a difficult situation... getting stranded from home, encountering beautiful woman at the same time, but you have a wife. You have to choose your wife, or a beautiful woman. This is exactly what happened to Odysseus on his travels in The Odyssey, by the Greek poet Homer. In this epic poem, Odysseus is married to his wife Penelope and has a happy family, who lives in Ithaca. Even though Odysseus has been stranded from home for many years, he still remains loyal to his wife.
However, for a woman in Homer’s society, who belongs to either her father and her husband, she is the head of the household for 20 years in the absence of Odysseus. She does not preserve peace in the household, but she takes actions to prevent the destruction of ranks of the household by delaying her marriage so that when Odysseus come back home, he can reclaim the kingship, or when Telemachus is old enough, he can take the throne which is rightfully his. In the position where women have no power, she uses her intellectual strength to control the suitors. Penelope promises the suitors that she will choose one of them to marry after she finishes weaving the shroud for Laertes because it is shameful if she does not do anything for her father-in-law. The suitors eagerly comply to her request without knowing what Penelope plans to do.
In addition, Odysseus does not even think about Penelope in this situation. He completely ignores the fact that his actions could have consequences in the future. In the same way as above, Odysseus continues to show disloyalty to Penelope, Alcinous stated in a longing way, “If only- you could wed my daughter and be my son-in-law and stay right here with us.” (7. 355 and 358-359). In this section of the Odyssey, Odysseus showed disloyalty once again to Penelope because Odysseus not only flirted with Nausicaa, but went to her parents house knowing nausicaa thought he might be the one she weds one day.
We are proud of the love we give and receive, for our children and the habits, emotional responses, obligations and values that we teach them. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is no different and the importance of his family is demonstrated as he weeps tears of sadness in their absence and rejects Calypso’s offer of immortality in exchange for his companionship. “‘My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger. My quiet Penelope—how well I know—would seem a shade before your majesty, death
Xenia is the greek term for “hospitality towards visitors”. This Greek term is shown when Telemachus and Peisistratus both began on their journey on a yoke. “And they drove to Menelaus’ palace,/Which they found filled with guests” (Lombardo 44). Menelaus has many guests in his palace because of Xenia which is valued in their society. They believe in Xenia because when people are away from home, they are uncomfortable so showing hospitality towards visitors makes them miss home less.