Editing Penelope (section)

== Feminist retellings ==
{{one source section|date=March 2025}}
In many modern-day interpretations, Penelope is traditionally viewed as a chaste and faithful wife throughout Homeric literature and is referred to as such by other characters in Greek myth such as Agamemnon and her husband Odysseus.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The Odyssey - Table of Contents |url=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/homer/the-odyssey/william-cullen-bryant/text |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=standardebooks.org}}</ref> This is due to her dedication to her sexless marriage and resistance to finding a new husband.  Many scholars and popular retellings continue to emphasize this unwavering commitment to her husband and desire for no one else due to these notions. Typical interpretations of Penelope, however, have begun to evolve due from introductions of complex feminist retellings, and because of this, she did not have as much nuance as she typically does today. Many modern-day interpretations portray Penelope as a much more complex character that embodies sensuality in her interactions with the suitors.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Sex and Sensuality in the Ancient World |url=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300108804/sex-and-sensuality-in-the-ancient-world/ |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Yale University Press |language=en-US}}</ref> This recent view has been adopted for many reasons such as ambiguity within interactions between Penelope and the suitors.

The Weaving Trick is a key example of such an ambiguity. In Book 2, Penelope promises the suitors that once she has finished weaving a shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes, she will choose a suitor.<ref name=":2" /> Ultimately, this promise serves as a deception where each night she would undo the day’s work to gain control over the situation and postpone her unwanted marriage. While this shows an attempt to delay the suitors, there is still the issue of Penelope sending letters to each of the suitors. Scholars like Guilia Sissa claim the reasoning behind this could show an ambiguous sensuality between the two parties.<ref name=":2" /> There is still the perspective that these letters Penelope sends are to satiate her suitors but in the narrative, they are already content to wait for her to continue weaving until they are told otherwise by one of Penelope’s handmaids. 

Besides the Weaving trick, Penelope has an extremely insightful dream. In her dream she imagines 20 Geese whom she takes care of (who are take the place of the suitors) and one day as she is tending to them an eagle swoops down and kills all of them with the eagle revealed to be Odysseus.<ref name=":1" /> But instead of happiness for the return of her long-lost husband, she only expresses grief at the loss of her beloved birds. She laments in her dream and awakes out of distress. Penelope’s sadness at the loss of the suitors shows that someone she still enjoyed their company and presence within her life; to what end no one can be sure.<ref name=":2" /> However, there are alternative interpretations that may suggest her tears stem from a fear of death and the mutilation that occurred.

Another moment that Penelope’s lust can be interpreted is within the archery challenge.<ref name=":2" /> Penelope promises to finally choose a suitor to whoever is able to complete her challenge, and this shows her willingness to finally move on. But when she finally thinks about leaving her husband, her main thoughts aren’t that she will not be married to him anymore, but she is saddened by the fact she will have to leave her luxurious home. Penelope’s test itself shows that if she had to pick a new husband, he must be as strong and skillful as her presumed late husband and shows she would only pick someone who would be similar to him, lest she pick someone unworthy of her.<ref name=":2" /> 

There is also no real reason presented in the text for Penelope to not restate her loyalty to Odysseus and her desire to not remarry.<ref name=":2" /> Throughout the text Penelope shows her agency and ability to delay but never decides to make the concrete decision to not get remarried because she hints that she does not want to be alone for the remainder of her life. Contrary to Penelope’s perceptions as a perfect wife incapable of lust or desire of people other than her husband, she shows a sensual desire to the suitors as shown in her interactions within the weaving, dream, and bow challenge. 

Feminist retellings of ''The Odyssey'' have greatly impacted this typical perception of Penelope. These retellings portray her with more nuance and agency than older beliefs and give an opportunity for multiple perspectives.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=The Penelopiad |url=https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-penelopiad/ |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Grove Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> Other works such as ''[[The Penelopiad]]'' continue to present an alternative to the long-standing beliefs that Penelope was a passive and dutiful wife, renowned for her chaste and faithfulness.<ref name=":3" /> Feminist scholars instead highlight her intelligence and cunning within this male-dominated world, emphasizing her ability to manipulate the standards of women during that time that were placed upon her, such as in the example of the Weaving Trick and Bow challenge. These interpretations suggest that her fidelity is not just a matter of blind devotion to her husband but more of a deliberate and strategic choice which can be seen with the many tricks she uses in the same manner as Odysseus. 

=== Penelope's agency ===
Classics scholars tend to de-center Penelope from the narrative of the Odyssey. Despite playing a central role in Homer’s epic, academics lump Penelope’s choices as reactions to Odysseus’ absence. However, scholars like Giulia Sissa have re-established Penelope’s agency in the Odyssey. Sissa analyzes Penelope’s autonomy in her piece Sex and Sensuality in the Ancient World. Especially in a male-dominated field, we must illuminate female scholars, like Giulia Sissa, in the field of classics. 
=== The suitors ===
Sissa adopts a provocative interpretation of Penelope’s character. She notes that most scholars identify Penelope as “the good wife” in ancient myths. Odysseus was gone for 20 years on his journey in the Odyssey. The typical interpretation of Penelope is that she maintained her chastity to her husband. Even when Odysseus took up lovers, like Circe and Calypso, Penelope remained loyal to her husband. Compared to other wives in antiquity, like Medea, Penelope embodied the gender expectations of a wife in ancient Greece. For example, Medea killed her husband’s lover (Glauce) and her lover’s family (King Creon) in addition to killing her two sons to prevent her husband from continuing his legacy through inheritance. The accepted notion was that Penelope was loyal even when Odysseus wasn’t. Penelope was not a wicked, evil wife, like Medea, but a faithful, submissive partner. Thus, her character is often typecasted as a passive wife. 
Sissa refutes this conventional understanding with her "alternative narrative". Specifically, Sissa emphasizes how Penelope desired the suitors who filled Odysseus’ absence. The typical understanding of Penelope is that she is "free from desires" and is unyielding to her husband, Odysseus. But Sissa argues that Penelope considered taking a second husband. She was not "the perfect wife" blindly following her husband’s will. 
=== The geese ===
In Book 19, Penelope talks to Odysseus, who is disguised as a beggar/peasant. Penelope poses questions to Odysseus, unknowingly talking to her husband. Penelope shares a dream she had with him. In her dream, twenty geese were eating in the courtyard. Instantly, an eagle flies down to kill all of the geese. The eagle tells Penelope that her husband will return and retaliate against the suitors. Thus, the geese symbolize the suitors and the eagle represents Odysseus. Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, believes the dream has meaning. He agrees with the eagle’s prophecy that Penelope’s husband will return. However, Penelope disagrees with his interpretation. She maintains her doubts about Odysseus' return and ultimately decides to follow through with a contest to choose her next husband. Penelope was skeptical of her dream and studied it on her own accord. Dreams were often seen as a divine prophecy cast down to mortals. Penelope rejects this notion by dismissing the dream. Even when a man, who is unknowingly Odysseus, agrees with the prophecy, she remains steadfast in her interpretation. Sissa's provocative interpretation of Penelope contrasts with her conventional narrative. This specific moment in Book 19 embodies Penelope’s intelligence and agency. She chooses to make her own decisions, regardless of the gods or what men in her life suggest. Her decisions are hers and hers alone. This is true because Penelope has desires. Penelope does not solely exist as an object for Odysseus' mantle. She is her own person and considers the idea of having a second husband. This moment encapsulates her desire and decision-making capabilities, which clashes with the typical understanding that Penelope is a devoted housewife to Odysseus. Sissa notes that although the audience knows the end of the Odyssey, where Odysseus does come back, that does not negate the decision Penelope makes in Book 19. Her choice still has meaning even if the plot reveals a different outcome. This choice demonstrates Penelope’s assertions. She wanted a second husband and decided to follow through with that decision. 
=== The archery contest ===
After Penelope decides to take a second husband, she conducts a contest to find her next partner. In Book 21, Penelope hosts an archery contest. Each contestant must string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads. Sissa asserts that Penelope wants a husband of the same caliber as Odysseus. Thus, she does not want to settle for anything less than what she deserves. Even the concept of the archery contest itself emphasizes Penelope’s intelligence. Sissa notes that Penelope was already an “outsider” in Odysseus’ house. If Odysseus does not return, it is expected of Penelope to follow her new husband or return to her father. But, Penelope’s clever archery contest skips the extra step of returning to her father’s house as she can leave directly with the winner. Thus, Penelope’s archery contest asserts her independence as she takes control over her fate. Her future does not lie with her father or husband. Instead, as Sissa corroborates, Penelope’s decision to host the contest embodies her desire and decision-making process.
=== Conclusion ===
As Sissa argues, Penelope is not a passive “perfect” wife. She has desires which she fulfills through her choices throughout the Odyssey (823).