Penelope's Suitors in Homer's "Odyssey"

Paper Summary:

The paper analyzes how the many suitors that unsuccessfully woo Odysseus's wife, Penelope, when Odysseus is away for 20 years fighting the Trojan war, serve, stylistically, to expand the number and variety of viewpoints in the text. The paper further analyzes how this reinforces the theme of Penelope's loyalty to her absent husband. The essay discusses how the presence of these many suitors within Odysseus' household during his absence, and their efforts to woo his wife away from him, serve several distinct narrative functions.

From the Paper:

"When Odysseus finally does at last arrive home to Ithaca again, disguising himself now as an elderly beggar, it becomes abundantly clear to Odysseus that Penelope has indeed remained faithful to him throughout his twenty-year absence, and especially during the difficult period of the last four years since Troy has fallen. In order to have managed to do so, however, Penelope has had to think up clever tricks and time-buying strategies, including the telling of her suitors that she was weaving a burial shroud for Laertes, the old father of Odysseus, and that as soon as she finishes with this work she would then finally choose from among her many impatiently waiting suitors."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Homer. Odyssey. Perseus Online Texts. Retrieved March 17, 2006, from: www.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_Greco-Roman.html.

More papers on Penelope's Suitors in Homer's "Odyssey":

• Analytical Essay # 131010 : "Marriage and the Rites of Manhood in 'The Odyssey'"
• Book Review # 106817 : "Identity and Myth in "The Odyssey"
• Book Review # 119637 : "The Role of Penelope in Homer's "Odyssey"

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