Odysseus tried to feign madness to get out of his obligation, but he was caught in the end. They came to search for Odysseus, who had sworn an oath to Menelaus to protect his rights to Helen. Menelaus and several other men intended to lay siege to Troy in response. Penelope's only comfort was the birth of her son, Telemachus, and her love for Odysseus.Įventually, Odysseus received word that Penelope’s cousin Helen, whom Penelope despised, had left her husband Menelaus for a Trojan prince named Paris. Penelope had no friends her own age or status. Although Penelope quickly came to love Odysseus, she did not get along with her mother in law, Anticleia, and found Odysseus's former nurse, Eurycleia, to be very condescending. The sea journey was rough for Penelope, and once they landed things weren't much better. The Maids comment on the section with envy, since they are not allowed to marry.Ĭontrary to custom, Odysseus took his bride back to his home on the island of Ithaca. Odysseus won the race (supposedly by cheating) and married Penelope that day. Penelope next describes the contest for her hand in marriage, a running race, when she was fifteen. In the Maids’ commentary on Penelopes’ childhood, they compare their own lineage, contrasting their slave and peasant parents with Penelope’s royal ones. Her mother, meanwhile, was neglectful and cold. According to stories Penelope heard growing up, Icarius tried to kill Penelope in infancy by throwing her into the sea, but Penelope was saved by a flock of ducks.

Penelope begins her account with her childhood, stating that she was born in Sparta to King Icarius and a Naiad mother. The Maids, meanwhile, introduce themselves through a song that accuses Odysseus of killing them. Penelope's account begins with her deciding from the afterlife to tell her side of the famous story of her marriage to Odysseus after thousands of years. Penelope's first person narrative is a mostly chronological account starting at her birth, while the Maids provide commentary on her narrative.

The story is told in retrospect, with Penelope and the Maids in the afterlife reflecting on the events that occurred centuries before. Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad retells the story of the Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope and her Twelve Maids.

The penelopiad by margaret atwood