Undaunted Fidelity

Odysseus, one of the most renown heros of the Trojan War and a mighty Achaean King, left his lovely wife, and baby to do his duty “to God and Country.” He went willingly, but was loath to depart from his newly established family; a 20-year absence was not even considered. It was simply a mission to reclaim Helen, King Menelaus’ wife, who was taken by the Trojans--it was thought to be of short duration. Even after the war was over, Odysseus was unable to return directly home; the gods beset him with many trials and pointless adventures before he could return. Setting off for the battle with a troop of men, he left Penelope and their son in good hands and headed off to battle, not to return for many years. Entrusted at home, “headful” and “honored” Penelope was the model of a faithful wife. She kept matters in order, raised a son, was completely loyal to her husband, and did not waver in her duties.

Long after Odysseus’ expected return from the war, Penelope stayed faithful and diligent to remain chaste. She was often ridiculed and chaffed for not remarrying when it seemed as if Odysseus must be dead, he had been gone for so long. Scrupulously careful, Penelope waited longingly for her husband’s return. Even after 20 long years of patiently anticipating his arrival, Penelope does not give up all for lost, but instead continues on hoping. Many men (72 in all) courted her--much against her will. She did not pay attention to any of them and least of all did she encourage them. They all camped out in her house, ate of her food, and took advantage of everything possible as they greedily desired the Queen’s affections to sway towards one of them. Contrarily, she was obviously waiting only for her dear husband’s return and was not interested in anyone else, no matter what they could offer her.

Amid the struggle to remain solely the

wife of Odysseus, Penelope leads a life of distress and struggles. First her parents want her to re-marry--they having lost all faith in their son-in-law and wanting a blood-heir to carry on the kingly lines in their family. She, completely and wholly devoted to Odysseus, refuses, but cannot figure out how to convince the suitors, to leave her alone without destroying the long standing relationships with the prominent families. For a long while she is able to keep them at bay, but after about 16 years of waiting on her, the suitors get impatient. She comes up with a brilliant idea. She says that she needs to weave a robe for her precious husband and once that is finished, she will marry someone.

“Then in the daytime would she weave at the great web, but in the night unravel...thus for three years she hid her craft and cheated the Achaeans...Wherefore I pay no head to strangers or to suppliants, nor even to heralds who ply a public trade; but, longing for Odysseus, I waste my heart away. [The suitors] urge me on my marriage: I wind my skein of guile.”

During his travels and before he reaches home, Odysseus is warned by King Agamemnon that he should not hope that his wife would still be faithful to him, as was Agamemnon’s experience with his wife. Odysseus was saddened with this news and the dreary prospect of what was to come before him. Long before he reached home, he had heard of the numerous suitors for his wife’s hand and could only surmise that the counsel of the king was true and he has lost his one and only love. Odysseus finally returns home after his arduous journey, though in a completely different state from that which he left in. He comes back as an old man, made so by Pallas Athene. He goes about in disguise to learn more about the suitors of his wife and if she has somehow managed to remain devoted to him amidst the turmoil. He makes his way into the palace, and after some time is given an audience with Penelope herself--it was known that he knew what had happened to Odysseus after the Trojan War.

Throughout the novel, Penelope, ever desirous to see her husband again, heeds all precaution in probing and studying everyone that she comes into contact with. After listening to and believing the accounts by several of her suitors of the fate concerning Odysseus, she finds they are false and that they will tell her anything so that they can marry her. She immediately decides not to take everything at face-value and to test everything and everyone, saving herself a lot of heart-ache. But, when she does hear the truth from a certain, old stranger (Odysseus himself), it takes her a long time and lots of questions to finally give it any merit. Still, she is reluctant to believe the fantastic stories because of all rumor and false tales that she has heard the suitors tell her. And she is still not completely convinced until she sees her husband (after Athena restored him to be “taller and stronger than he was before”). At the end of her interview with Odysseus, she tells him of one of her dreams; he interprets the dream and gives her hope that Odysseus will return shortly and route her “enemies.”

Penelope’s courageous and steadfast waiting for the return of her husband is rewarded at the end of the book by a happy reunion between the two lovers. Twenty years seem but a moment as the two catch each other up on their lives over the past two decades. In the end, Penelope’s persistent forbearance and staunch fidelity is rewarded: Odysseus returns home and reestablishes order to the chaos, exterminating the suitors and institutes peace. Also, King Agamemnon, who was so quick to compound all of the female race with the same deplorable qualities and duplicitous motives that his wife displayed, realizes the mistake he made, corrects his error, and restores Penelope’s honor:

“Fortunate son of Laertes, ready Odysseus! You won a wife full of all worth. How upright was the heart of true Penelope, the daughter of Icarius! How faithful to Odysseus, the husband of her youth! Wherefore the story of her worth shall never die; but for humankind immoral ones shall make a joyous song in praise of steadfast Penelope.”