The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus

Everyone knows Odysseus' version of things, but what about his ever-faithful wife, Penelope? What does the good wife have to say for herself?

A quick but brilliant read. Atwood creates a rich voice for Penelope as she recounts her life in a way that reframes her existence outside of that of her husband. Interspersed with Penelope's narrative are interjections from a chorus made up of the twelve maids who Odysseus had killed for colluding with the suitors. These often more poetic turns provide a different perspective again on the tale Penelope weaves. An intriguing exploration of a woman who in the original source text only matters in relation to her husband, Atwood creates a complex woman who remains an enigma even in her own tale.

I've always liked the Odyssey, the original travel story. Now I like The Penelopiad better.

This is Atwood at her best, using story to explain and clarify life. The book is of course about today as much as the mythic past. It flows on like water, swimming like the half-Naiad woman telling us her story, moving around and through her life.

The Greek chorus of the twelve maids is inspired too. They show the emotions Penelope is not allowed to show. They are the victim-voices, every-woman voices, allowed in death to explain their fates.

Every girl, and every boy, should read Penelopaid before reading Odyssey. If Margaret Atwood ever does a graphic novel, this is the one to start on.

After reading Claire North’s Ithaca, a retelling of the Odyssey that centres Penelope and is narrated by Hera, I realized I had not yet read Margaret Atwood’s spin on the Odyssey, The Penelopiad. Atwood has Penelope narrate her story from beyond the grave, which gives Penelope a great deal of perspective on events (several thousand years’ worth) and adds some deliciously eerie details when she encounters other people in her life in the afterlife as well (e.g., Antinous, one of the suitors; or Odysseus himself for that matter). Another important centring is the twelve maids who are hanged at the end of the Odyssey—they serve as the Chorus, singing songs that amplify themes or add touches of levity to Penelope’s story. These show more interludes I could very easily imagine on a stage, and indeed The Penelopiad was dramatized a couple of years after the book was published. Overall this retelling was swift and economical and very wry—I liked it a lot and would recommend it. show less

The Penelopiad provides Penelope’s version of what happened while her husband, Odysseus, was at war in Troy and beyond, as depicted in The Odyssey and The Iliad. Not knowing if her husband is even still alive, she fends off suitors while hoping for him to return home. Penelope serves as narrator looking back on her life from the perspective of the dead. She is joined by a chorus of maids in a variety of formats – poems, short plays, ballads, and courtroom drama. These are the twelve maids that were killed on Odysseus’ orders after he slaughtered the suitors.

Atwood gives voice to the women of the Homeric odes. In both The Iliad and The Odyssey, you know that women serve primarily as accessories to the hero’s quest. Penelope show more presents a quite different view of the maids than the charge of treachery. In her telling, the maids are innocent victims of rape and had been gathering intelligence from the suitors at Penelope’s request.

Atwood employs her wit and way with words to great effect. She presents Penelope’s view of Odysseus’ adventures, which differ significantly from the original Homeric version. She turns Odysseus’ battle with Cyclops into a fight with a one-eyed tavern keeper over a bill. Odysseus’ encounters with Circe become a stay at an expensive brothel where he was “sponging off the Madam.” It is really quite humorous in places, while still making a point about the double standard and speaking for the women who were given little voice in the originals. I enjoyed it very much and recommend it to those who are already familiar with Homer’s epics. show less

Another entry in the Canongate Myth Series. The second that I've had the pleasure of reading. I have to get my hands on more of these. Once I started with this I couldn't put it down.

This take on Penelope and The Iliad is wonderful for the skeptic's heart. Odysseus was more a bloodthirsty philandering wanderer than a hero. Penelope a long suffering wife who knew that she would not fare well without him, believes her own lies. The Chorus of slaves cuts to truth of the matter. It's a biting satire of modern (and ancient) revisionists. I loved it.

While Odysseus was taking his sweet time getting back...

what was going on back home with his wife and son?

That's the question Margaret Atwood decided to answer. And even more intriguing to Atwood was a "small" detail in The Odyssey.

Why, upon his return, besides killing all the suitors that had been eating his estate out of house and home, suitors that had plotted to kill his only son, suitors that had been pestering his wife Penelope to admit he was dead and marry one of them, why did Odysseus in his justifiable rage also hang 12 of his own slave maidens?

Atwood, being Atwood, took a clever, genius approach. Of course.

She has Penelope tell her own story from Hades, as a vaporous spirit still going after more than 2000 years while show more munching on asphodel and sometimes interacting with the spirits of other ancient Greeks from her lifetime. (Hades is mostly populated by ancient Greeks since the invention of Hell most people now go there, eschewing old-fashioned Hades. ha!)

In spite of being a 2000 year old spirit, Penelope continues to harbor much of the all too human feelings she had while alive, like jealousy of Helen of Troy, distrust of her husband Odysseus, and guilt over the fate of those maidens.

The 12 maidens are the book's Greek Chorus. Still lumped together as a group of unnamed individuals, they interject commentary in verse and even perform bawdy songs and dance. Like Penelope, they haven't forgotten. They lament, regularly, the injustice done to them. Nor do they let Penelope get away with the self-serving softening of her self-deceptions and most importantly, her role in their outcome.

I read somewhere here on Goodreads that Atwood objected to this being touted as a feminist piece. I didn't find it particularly feminist, except on its premise alone: that yes, women also had a tale to tell, ignored for millennia, and it might be interesting too.

It was interesting.

I confess, though, I would have enjoyed The Penelopiad a lot more had I actually read Homer's Odyssey at some point in my life. Instead, most of my recognition of the ancient Greek myths has come from the 1960s stop-motion animation films of Ray Harryhausen. :P show less

I hate when history romanticises warlords and barbaric men, just because they had some 'thoughts' to share. So from the perspective of a wife/mother/human, Odysseus was an unfaithful POS! He was ONLY a good warlord - he couldn't navigate those seas well and got his crew killed because of his pride, so I'm glad to see this version from Penelope. I loved how funny her narration was, on the Gods getting involved, the way the antiquities they once used lay in museums to be stared at, how psychics bring random celebs from the past in (including the narcissistic Helen).
I also loved the chorus from the 12 women killed by Odysseus for sleeping with the suitors. There was no need for him to have done that, it was just proof of his barbaric show more mindset so I enjoyed him getting the shaming he deserved. show less