Expert: Tom Horne - 2/26/2004

Question
Hi!  I have some questions regarding Penelope in The Odyssey by Homer.  I'm writing a paper about female figures of authority, mainly focusing on Penelope and Eurykleia.  How can I tie women's cunningness into this topic?  (I'm having trouble with my thesis.)

I know that Penelope outwits Odysseus by testing Odysseus about their bed.  This demonstrates Penelope's shrewdness, but how does is she portrayed as a female figure of authority.  Does she have any kind of authority?  If she does, when does she exert this authority?

Also, what are Penelope's weaknesses?  She weeps a lot, but is that considered a weakness?  (emotional weakness?)  In what other ways is she weak?

I'm trying to create an outline for my essay, and make connections with the information I've gathered.

Thank you!  

Answer
She's seen as the figure of authority while her husband is away.  It is she who dictates when she will find a new husband.  She sets the rules.  (The bow and arrow contest).  She is fully in control and all the male suitors can't do anything about it.  She also tells her son Telemachus what to do, and of course is in charge of all the staff and servants at the palace.  Those are examples of her "calling the shots" and exerting her authority in Ithaca.  There is no question that she is definitely the authority figure.
I personally do not see a weakness in her.  She does cry, but simply because her husband has been missing...lost for 20 years.  That would make anyone cry.  It's a sign of being human, not necessarily a weakness in her.
She doesn't really outwit Odysseus...rather, she tests him.  She knows that only her true husband knows about the bed and only he can use the bow.  Odysseus passes both of those test and therefore she knows it's really him and not an imposter.
She is considered an extremely faithful character in al lof literature.  Everyone thinks her husband is dead, and she has many new rich handsome men after her, but she still believes in Odysseus and her marriage.  again, this makes her very strong and moral, and I do not see it as a weakness.   In your paper, I would try not to emphasize her as a weak character.  If your teacher is requiring you to show her weakness, you may be able to go with the fact that she was too weak to tell the suitors to go away.  Instead, she unraveled the loom each night and stalled...she tricked the suitors instead of just ordering them away.  But again, she is a single woman up against hundreds of men.  She had to use her brains to keep them away, because she could no do so physically.

I hope this helps.