Although the Odyssey is often considered the story of Odysseus’ homecoming, there are many other characters who have significant roles to play in the development of the general social milieu in which the epic is set. Two of the most important characters are Telemachus and Penelope, both of whom have to contend with suitors who, literally, eat them out of house and home. Since neither of them have the strength, either physically or politically, to drive out the suitors (called the Porci), they seek power through other means, particularly through the exercise of their intellect and their character. Although Telemachus’ intellect is not on par with Odysseus, it can be argued that his sharpness and willingness to learn helped him overcome the suitors and avenge their injustices against his father’s estate and mother’s honor showing that it is only intelligence along with the willingness to learn can triumph over the odds. Through Penelope and Telemachus, it can be seen that, in spite of being very restrictive, Greek norms relating to gender roles and the power given to men and women, both sexes have the ability to assert themselves at different points. Analyzing the journeys of Telemachus and Penelope, it can be seen that gender roles can be toppled in specific ways, if one knows how.
Penelope, on the other hand, is much more difficult to understand or analyze than Telemachus because of her more sedate position as a woman. Unlike her husband and her son, her great virtue seems to be stalwartness – she waits for confirmation that Odysseus is dead before she marries. In spite of her intelligence and strength, her seclusion from the outside world and confinement to Ithaca shows that, according to Homer, the woman’s place is at home and her virtues must be shown only as a keeper of the home, rather than as an individual in her own right (like Odysseus or Telemachus). While both Penelope and Telemachus begin in the same place – in Odysseus’ palace in Ithaca, their journey takes them on two very different paths.
Telemachus was only a child when Odysseus left to fight in the Trojan Wars. For the largest part of his childhood, he grew without ever knowing his father. As such, he was very attached to his mother and kept to the palace for the most part. Early on in the narrative – Book 1 to be precise, Telemachus is visited by Athena who is disguised as Mentes, an old friend of Odysseus. It is here that Homer makes his first clear statement about gender roles – having grown almost to manhood, it is Telemachus’ duty to look for his father, not just wait for him to return while the suitors ravage his estate. Clearly, it is a man’s duty to leave home, for some time at least, and perform his duty to those around him. Soon after his meeting with Athena, Telemachus finds his mother in the men’s quarters, upset over a song that had just been sung. This section is a perfect juxtaposition – while Athena advises Telemachus to go out into the world and remedy his situation, Telemachus insists that Penelope keep to herself and not be disturbed by the songs of bards. They are thus thrust in opposite directions (Homer 10-12).
Moreover, it is Telemachus who had to rebuke the suitors and give them notice to leave the estate, not his mother, in spite of the fact that it is she who is the mistress of the estate. It seems likely that the gender roles of Ancient Greece demanded that only a man could represent the public face of a household, not a woman (even if she is the mother of the speaker). As can be expected, the raucous suitors simply laugh off Telemachus’ rebukes and carry on living on the estate leaving the prince to continue on his journey, as instructed by Athena. The next clear statement of gender roles is in Book 2 where, once again, Telemachus’ speech highlights the position of women. It deals with the suitor’s method of courtship and so highlights the roles of both men and women in such situations.
While speaking to the elders of Ithaca, Telemachus mentions that the suitors ‘shamelessly court’ Penelope when the right way to go about it is to go to her father and ask for her hand in marriage (Homer 17-22). Clearly, Greek custom demands that marriage is essentially a kind of relationship building between men where women are only the means of constructing it. But, in a very subtle way, it seems likely that Homer is himself overturning this convention. By turning the suitors into an unruly mob who ‘attack’ Penelope directly instead of going to her father, Homer places Penelope in a position where she must, at least in some small way, assert her own position and defend it herself. In other words, she is put in the spotlight so that she can have her say – something which almost no other Greek woman would likely have had. Another example of a way in which Penelope seems to have asserted her independence is mentioned when one of the suitors, Antinous, claims that she ‘seduced every suitor without committing to any one of them’. One the one hand, this could just be a very sexist remark which puts the blame of the suitors’ bad behavior on the innocent Penelope, but it also thrusts the suitors into a dangerous light – by stating that Penelope could influence their behavior in such a way, they are also giving her a certain amount of power over them – it is she who chooses the suitor, not the suitors who choose her.
After this point, the narrative switches to Telemachus’ journeys to meet Nestor and Menelaus. In both these meetings, the gender roles described above are simply reinforced and no new information can be found about Penelope or her unique predicament. It is not until Book 16 that fresh information about Penelope’s gender role can be found. Here, she is seen rebuking Antinous for his plot to kill her son (Homer 190-191). As mentioned earlier, in Ancient Greece, a woman was considered ‘part of negotiations’ in marriage, not an active member in choosing her own spouse. Her unique position as being the sole-owner of the house (at least until Odysseus and Telemachus return) puts her in a position where she has the authority not only to speak and negotiate with the suitors but also to rebuke them.
It should be borne in mind that all of Penelope’s actions were prompted by uncommon situations – the absence of the husband, and later of the son as well, allowed her to exercise a degree of freedom which is rarely seen in female characters in Greek literature. It is also worth noting that it is at the point when Penelope fully exercises her freedom that Telemachus has his power cut short by the return of his father (Odysseus, being the head of the family, would make the decisions from then on, not Telemachus). Two more moments of power are seen in Penelope’s narrative – Once in Book 18 where, on the prompting of Athena, Penelope appears before the suitors in order to cause them to desire her even more and made their end that much more fitting (Homer 216-18). For a woman to hold that much sway over so many men was not supposed to be possible, yet Penelope could do it. The last point where her power to defend herself and her home is revealed in Book 24. In the scene from the underworld, one of the suitors, Amphimedon, blames the fate of the suitors on Penelope’s indecision (Homer 277-79). This is perhaps one of the most important moments in the epic (for Penelope) because, bereft of the influence of Athena, Telemachus and Odysseus, Penelope is seen as an individual and her power through her own intelligence can be seen. It is probably in keeping with the slightly disruptive nature of this epic (at least in terms of gender roles) that towards the end, as Telemachus begins to fade as a person of power and importance (his main goal is to fill his father’s shoes), Penelope emerges as an important individual in her own right and in this way, the epic does topple conceptions of gender roles.
Work Cited
Homer, The Odyssey. Trans. Samuel Butler. New York: Race Point Publishing, 2015.
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