The Odyssey is about the journey of Odysseus to Ithaca from the war at Troy. He spent ten years at war and took another ten years to get back to Itaca because of the animosity from Poseidon, the god of the sea. By the time Odysseus comes home, he finds a number of men invading his home to court Penelope, which leads to more woes and fights for him. His dedication to come home shows his strong love for his family yet he has affairs with Circe and Calypso which show the double standard when Penelope has to stay faithful when she has a number of suitors to choose from. Nausicaa’s immature attraction to Odysseus proves insignificant to him and cannot trump his desperate longing to return home. We can see the trickster and cunning intelligence in Odysseus’s character when Polyphemus curses the Ithacans and only Odysseus survives. Penelope isn’t some dumb, naive character either. She is as smart as her husband when she delays choosing a suitor by a ruse to marry only after weaving a death shroud for Laertes, she weaves and unweaves the shroud and delays the event for three years till a maid snitches.
The Odyssey – My Thoughts
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Good thoughts about character and gender issues here —keep it up—we have many more pages to consider!
Also: “snitches” is such a prison word, Maya!
P.S. I had too many tabs open when I called you “Maya” in the last reply . . . I should have known it was you, Rhea.