Penelope's Role In The Odyssey

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Penelope becomes a paradigm of an ideal wife in Athenian patriarchal society, according to William J. O'Neal. The heroine of The Odyssey is often seen as a symbol of faithfulness; she is a devoted wife and mother. Penelope is as equally smart and inventive as her husband Odysseus. “The ancient epic depicts her as a meet spouse for the clever hero. She is equally patient and clever and thinks up stratagems to deal with the crisis that comes up in her environment,” states Van Zyl Smith (394). As a married and possibly widowed woman she is forced to lie to save her marriage. She promises suitors that she will choose a husband as soon as the shroud is completed. Penelope works for three years on weaving a shroud for the funeral of her father-in-law,

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