Penelope Cunning In The Odyssey

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In the Odyssey, Penelope is much more than just the wife of the great Odysseus. Despite a lack of focus on penelopes inner turmoil from the absence of her husband throughout majority of the poem, her methods of dealing with both the absence and return of Odysseus reveal the true nature of her cunning as the wife of the notoriously crafty hero. There are two mediums in which penelopes cunning thought is expressed, the plot progression and comparisons between her and Odysseus in the text structure.

Primarily, penelopes cunning ability is expressed through her clever management of various situations. There are three major plot points in which penelopes cunning is made most apparent. With Odysseus gone and presumed dead, one hundred and eight …show more content…
“When she said these words, Odysseus was moved to tears, and he wept as he held her tight in his arms, his beloved and true-hearted wife. And as welcome as is the moment when land appears to sailors whose ship Posiedon has wrecked with the fury of wind and waves, and the few who have not been drownedswim onto the shore, their bodies crusted with brine, and they feel shier joy that the ground is beneath their feet and that now they are out of danger: just so welcome to her was the sight of her husband, and she held him tight in her armsand did not let go.”(23, 201, 192-201). Although this quote does not describe any cunning action taken by Penelope, its structure invites the comparison between her and odysseus. The quote is written so that it begins and ends with an embrace between the couple; this structure allows the metaphor of one who is lost finding solid ground to apply to both odysseus and Penelope. Wording this quote in a way that makes the great and cunning odysseus seem comparable to Penelope speaks volumes to her cunning as a woman. The odyssey, among other ancient greek texts, is littered with misogyny; this makes any positive comparison between Penelope and a cunning hero incredibly significant. By allowing Penelope to be represented as a capable and intelligent partner of odysseus, rather than simply a tool for sex as most women are portrayed in these writings, the theme of her cunning thought is
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