Editing Penelope (section)

=== 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.