Penelope

Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, mother of Telemachos, Queen of Ithaka, and the object of desire for every nobleman in the land. She’s also a strong woman. This may seem like crazy-talk by today’s standards (after all, she lets her son boss her around and seems pleased at his behavior), but this is ancient Greece. Look at how she holds out against the suitors. Surely it would have been easier simply to marry one of them and get the whole mess over with, but Penelope sticks to her guns. Most importantly, she does this through cunning and deception – just look at her brilliant ruse about weaving a shroud for Laertes – which makes her a pretty good match for our crafty hero Odysseus.

Penelope’s decision not to re-marry demonstrates her fortitude and determination. At the same time, it makes her the shining example of faithfulness and fidelity in the Odyssey. Despite her long suffering and yearning for her husband, she sleeps alone for nearly twenty years (unlike her husband, we might add). Homer really drives home Penelope’s suffering throughout all this: we see her crying into her pillow each night, longing for Odysseus.

Whether or not Penelope thinks her husband is dead is an interesting question. She’s certainly skeptical anytime someone claims he is alive, or present. But just because she’s skeptical doesn’t mean she’s lost faith. Right up to the last moment, Penelope lets her mind do double-duty, holding faith and doubt in balance. If anything, this makes her fidelity all the more impressive (and perhaps even more impressive than Odysseus’s rejection of the immortality offered by Kalypso): without the certainty that Odysseus would one day come home, she risked being alone until her death.