Who Is Sacrifice The Most In The Odyssey

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Who has sacrificed the most in The Odyssey? It seems like the obvious answer would be Odysseus. He spent twenty years at sea. That could be true, but who truly gave up the most throughout the epic was not Odysseus but Penelope. Penelope was left alone for 20 years, unsure of when her husband would come home. During these 20 years, she had to make many sacrifices, and those sacrifices show what she values. By the time Odysseus was gone, Penelope was left alone; she had to rule over Ithaca and raise her son alone. After years of waiting for Odysseus to return with no word that he is alive, suitors start to swarm to Ithaca to try to win Penelope’s hand in marriage. During this time Penelope tried to keep peace in her land and not upset the suitors as they took advantage of the situation and …show more content…
Penelope weaving for three years shows Penelope's dedication to her family. Penelope’s loyalty is shown through her ability to survive on her own. Another way it is shown is by the way she protects Telemachus when the suitors threaten to kill Telemachus. insert scene (insert scene). Penelope putting herself through the suffering of suitors for years is another thing that shows her loyalty to Odysseus and that she values her family. Penelope could have just married a suitor and got it over with, but her loyalty would not let her, even after twenty years of being alone and not knowing if Odysseus was even alive, she stayed loyal. These values shown throughout the epic help us understand the meaning of The Odyssey as a whole because it shows that Penelope represents a force of strength and survival that parallels anything that Odysseus might have shown on the battlefield. This strength that is shown by both Odysseus and Penelope shows the importance of love, family, and home. Throughout the epic, both Odysseus and Penelope make sacrifices to try to keep their family and home