The match of Odysseus and Penelope

How many women can spend years waiting for a man? How many men can spend years can spend years facing horrors at sea to return to a woman? In The Odyssey by Homer Penelope waits twenty years for Odysseus while he is trapped at sea. Despite their decades of separation, their shared strengths of loyalty and cunning make them ideal for each other.

One important characteristic Penelope and Odysseus. When Odysseus and his soldiers fail to return home from Troy, 108 noblemen and princes flock to his palace. There they court his wife, Penelope, offering her wealth and a life of ease. With Penelope’s parents pressuring her to remarry it seems like she will choose a new husband. However, even though his whereabouts and return are uncertain, Penelope remains faithful to Odysseus and refuses them all. She waits for Odysseus, and grieves for him. Songs of his exploits at Troy break her heart, and her face is rarely shy of her tears. Even the gods are affected by her grief, and, to ease her pain, Athena closes her eyes in sleep. Yearning for Odysseus, Penelope sacrifices and prays to the gods for Odysseus’s safe return home. For although the suitors offer her an escape from her everyday misery, Penelope does not believe that she will ever be happy without Odysseus.

Odysseus, meanwhile, also misses Penelope. He has been shipwrecked on an island where he is held captive by the beautiful goddess Calypso. She loves Odysseus and begs him to be her husband. However, although Calypso’s looks and figure are superior to any mortal, Odysseus refuses. He only wants Penelope, and so spends his days grieving for her on the shoreline. Eventually the gods take pity on him and tell Calypso to allow him to continue on his journey. Although she provides him ...

... middle of paper ...

...e in the palace, eliminating the smell of death. Then Odysseus told the minstrel to sing and play his lyre, creating the illusion of happiness in the palace. Thus, the passerby were fooled into thinking that a feast was taking place, and Odysseus was able to prepare for another battle. Penelope used her cunning to devise ways to delay a new marriage and protect herself. Odysseus’s used his cunning to take advantage of the suitors and their families, allowing him to remove them from his palace.

Although Odysseus and Penelope were separated for twenty years, they remained faithful to each other. Their loyalty allows Penelope to wait for Odysseus, and his loyalty keeps him focussed on returning home. Their cunning is used to take advantage of the suitors and protect themselves from lasting harm. Penelope’s loyalty and cunning make her the ideal woman for Odysseus.