The Odyssey is an epic tale imbued with the shared challenges and experiences of Odysseus, a lost hero attempting to find his way home, and those of Penelope, the wife he has left behind.

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                                                                                                      Nikki Rae Quintanar

Epic Vision and Tradition

                                                                                                        William Shullenberger

                                                                                                       ~ Fall 2002 ~

The Odyssey is an epic tale imbued with the shared challenges and experiences of Odysseus, a lost hero attempting to find his way home, and those of Penelope, the wife he has left behind.  Each of them faces many obstacles on their journey, and each employs distinct tactics in order to surmount these obstacles.  In this paper, I shall focus on the act of Penelope weaving and demonstrate how the intricate fibers with which she weaves, become important elements of the plot.  As one can imagine in the context of weaving, certain colors or shapes would appear dull or uninteresting on their own, yet when put together become stunning visual works of art.  

Penelope is an enigmatic character on whom Homer endows the epithet, “circumspect” meaning that she is able to discreetly see and cautiously maneuver around anything which threatens her entrapment.  She is in constant motion and in so doing, she is careful to consider all the circumstances and possible consequences of her actions.  Prudent and discreet, Penelope exudes wisdom.  

Overcome with grief while her home is invaded and its substance is depleted by 108 young suitors who hope to attain her as a wife (in effect to promote their own social standing), Penelope makes use of the blessings endowed upon her by the goddess Athene; the blessing of cunning intelligence and the blessing of creative skill.  Not wanting to be forced into remarrying, she declares that she will make a shroud for the hero Laertes, (the father of Odysseus) and that she shall not remarry until the shroud is complete.  So, “in the daytime she would weave at her great loom, but in the night she would have torches set by, and undo it” (II. 104-105).  In this way, and for four years, Penelope’s weaving provides her with a coping mechanism during Odysseus’ long absence, offers a shield of protection over her home and puts off any immediate decisions regarding marriage.  

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Penelope uses her loom in an interesting way; in weaving a tapestry or fabric, the threads stretched lengthwise on the loom are called the warp, and the threads woven across the warp are called the woof.  Stretched across the backbone or the “warp” of The Odyssey, are Penelope’s intelligence and creativity.  The woof can only be supplied by time.  

Every thought she possesses in her daily activity of weaving becomes embellished within the design of the fabric.  Since she prolongs time with the act of weaving and unweaving, the shroud she creates for the hero Laertes becomes a veil, ...

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