When Penelope and Odysseus reunite after twenty long years, the Odyssey concludes as a love story wherein the two protagonists have fought against gods and demons so they may be together once again.
While the main character of the Odyssey is Odysseus, the role of his wife, Penelope, is equally important. The return to Ithaca to be with his wife is the driving force behind Odysseus’ perilous ten-year-long journey and the ordeals he must overcome. These are exemplary of his dedication to his duties as a loyal, loving husband.
At the same time, Penelope is confronted with similar trials, as 108 suitors (Greek: μνηστήρες) have rudely taken over the royal estate, competing for the hand of the queen while simultaneously attempting to fill the role of lord of the estate.
As in every ancient Greek poem or play, divine intervention is always present. The gods of Olympus intervene in human affairs, using mortals like pawns in a game and always taking sides, much like the capricious beings they are.
The Odyssey is divided into three parts. The first is Odysseus’ departure from Troy as a glorious victor followed by his return to Ithaca, a journey full of dangerous obstacles and temptations meant to lead him astray. The second part pertains to the trials of Penelope who is uncertain of her husband’s return but at the same time is forced to fend off the coercive suitors who are determined to fill Odysseus’ place on the throne and her bed. Finally, there is the reunion of husband and wife amidst a clash with the suitors.
From the moment Odysseus sets off from Troy to return to his home and Penelope after ten years of bloody fighting, the journey becomes even more unpredictable and dangerous than the Trojan War itself.
Upon leaving Troy, Odysseus and his men raid Ismarus, a city of the Cicones, who are a Thracian tribe of hardened warriors. In retaliation, the Cicones attack the Greeks, killing many of Odysseus’ men.
The following stop is the island of the Lotus Eaters, the islanders who eat the flower that makes them blissfully forgetful and languid. Odysseus’ crew eats the lotus flower and soon forgets their destination. The Trojan War hero has to drag them back to the ship to continue the journey home.
The island of the Cyclops Polyphemus, the giant with only a single eye in the middle of his forehead is next. Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his men in his cave. However, Odysseus cunningly manages to get Polyphemus drunk and blinds him with a burning stick to help his men escape.
The blinding of Polyphemus angers Poseidon, his father, and the god of the seas curses Odysseus. His journey to Ithaca therefore becomes all the more perilous. Aeolus, god of the winds, supplies Odysseus with a bag of winds to help him sail home faster. Yet, his men believe the bag contains treasure and open it, whereby the winds blow the ships off course.
Odysseus and his ships then arrive at the island of the Laestrygonians, a race of cannibal giants, who attack the Greeks and kill many of them. The sorceress Circe on the island of Aeaea is the next obstacle in Odysseus’ adventure as she turns his men into swine. This time, the god Hermes comes to Odysseus’ assistance, helping him to resist her magical allure. Circe eventually helps him by advising him on future trials. The Greeks stay for a whole year on Aeaea before continuing their long journey.
Overwhelmed by the continuous trials, Odysseus travels to the Underworld to seek advice from the blind prophet Tiresias, who tells him how to return to Ithaca and warns of future dangers due to his having blinded Poseidon’s son, Polyphemus. The prophet advises him to refrain from slaughtering the sacred cattle of Helios at the island of Thrinacia.
Odysseus and his men come upon their next hurdle at the island of the Sirens, the famous female creatures that seduce men with their heavenly singing voices only to then murder them. As they approach the island of the Sirens, Odysseus requests that his men put beeswax in their ears, and he ties himself to the mast so that he can hear the Sirens’ enchanting song without the fear of steering the ship off course.
As the hero of the Trojan War continues on his sea journey, he encounters Scylla, the six-headed monster and the deadly whirlpool Charybdis. Some of his men are killed by the monster or sucked by Charybdis. Once on Thrinakia, however, Odysseus’ hungry men disobey his orders and slaughter the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios about whom Tiresias has warned them. Consequently, Zeus attacks the ship with a lightning bolt, killing all but Odysseus and destroying the ships.
Odysseus washes ashore on the island of Ogygia, where the alluring nymph Calypso lives. He is held captive there for seven long years until the gods intervene to save him, with Hermes ordering Calypso to release him.
On the final leg of Odysseus’ journey, he is shipwrecked on the mythical island of Scheria, where the Phaeacians live. These are a great seafaring people who supply the Trojan War hero with a ship to ultimately complete his return trip back to Ithaca and Penelope.
Divine intervention in human affairs always plays a central role in ancient Greek literature and drama, and the interaction of gods and mortals is common in Homer’s epics. At one point Penelope even states: “A divinity breathed it in my mind to set up a great loom in my palace and weave a web.”
Furthermore, in the Odyssey, both Odysseus’ troubles and his return home are facilitated by the actions of the gods, who adore heroes and reach out to support them. Receiving aid from the gods is reserved for heroes, and this is, in fact, an expected part of a hero’s life. Penelope’s fidelity and hope that Odysseus might one day return earns the sympathy and subsequent aid from the gods, as she proves to be a true heroine herself.
The burden of the suitors who have literally occupied the estate, pressing her to marry one of them, is a heavy one to carry for the loyal wife. Each one of the potential suitors boasts of his status and manhood, and Penelope is thoroughly repulsed by this behavior. She takes Athena’s advice and makes an announcement for the suitors that she is weaving a shroud for her husband’s dead body. She promises that as soon as she is done with it, she will marry one of them.
Yet, she unravels the weaving every night. In relying on the help of the gods and her own intelligence, Penelope manages to keep the suitors at bay and buy time until Odysseus’ return home to her. Penelope’s loyalty is admirable, and she consistently does her best to keep the household (Greek: oikos) as it was prior to Odysseus’ departure from the estate and even bans absolutely everyone from laying eyes on the bed she and her husband had shared, save for her slave Aktoris.
At the same time, although she remembers Odysseus quite vividly, she essentially has no reason to believe that he could even be alive at this point. Nonetheless, the memories are comforting for Penelope and act as a sort of escape from the discomfort the suitors have brought upon the royal oikos.
Goddess Athena proves to be almost omnipresent throughout Odysseus’ long journey home. When it is necessary that he look physically younger the way his wife remembers him, Athena transforms him to his satisfaction, and it is due to his loyalty to Penelope that Athena even helps him return home in the first place.
On Ogygia, the minor goddess Calypso also supports Odysseus as he is building his raft, providing him with the necessary tools to complete the task. This is despite the fact that Poseidon, who is out to avenge him for blinding his son, Polyphemus, keeps placing obstacles in Odysseus’ way rather than simply having him drowned at sea.
The gods facilitate his journey home specifically for two reasons, namely because of his loyalty to Penelope and his former heroic deeds. Loyalty is of central importance, as this is also the reason why Penelope is always protected, as well.
When Odysseus finally returns home, he is forced to disguise himself as a beggar in need of food until he is able to destroy the suitors and win back his estate to be with his wife once again as they were twenty years earlier. Of course, it is by no means easy for him to be close to Penelope without revealing himself and allowing free reign of his love for her. Yet, he is able to control himself until the suitors have been eradicated.
Ever since the suitors enter the scene at Odysseus and Penelope’s home on the island, they act as if the home is their own, consuming the food and wine and putting the house servants to work on their own behalf. One of the suitors, Antinoos, even plans on having Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, killed.
For ancient Greeks, disrespecting one’s host and hospitality was equivalent to hubris. Homer paints the suitors in the worst colors. Not only do they vulgarly covet Odysseus’ wife, but they squander his property. Odysseus is in a rage inwardly, impatiently waiting for the moment he can be rid of them once and for all so as to be alone in his home with his wife.
Athena advises Penelope to organize an archery contest for the suitors. The one who is victorious will become her spouse. The challenge is to string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through the handle holes of twelve axeheads set in a row. The beggar-Odysseus requests to take part in the contest to the derision of the suitors. Not one of them manages to shoot the arrow through the twelve holes.
The only one able to do so is Odysseus himself. He shoots the arrow through, and his identity is immediately revealed. He is the only one capable of completing this practically impossible task because he is the owner of the bow, as well as the rightful owner of the home and kingdom. Odysseus then shoots an arrow through Antinoos’ neck, and he kills each of the other suitors with a different arrow at a time.
The King of Ithaca grabs his sword and with the help of his son and two loyal estate caretakers, Eumaeus and Philoetius, fights the suitors until they are all killed. Along with the suitors, Odysseus slays the disloyal servants who sided with the trespassers. With the slaying of the suitors, order has been restored in the home and kingdom of Ithaca. More importantly, the loyal king and queen have once again been reunited after having longed for each other for twenty years.
Ultimately, their love survives a long bloody war and journey full of dangers and temptations, and their devotion to each other is forever captured in books, films, and works of art. Homer’s story of the love of Penelope and Odysseus will thus continue to echo through the ages.
