6 Rewriting Penelope and Odysseus
Over the centuries since the Odyssey was first composed, many writers and artists have revisited the story of Odysseus and Penelope to retell it in different media and from different perspectives. One writer who offered a different perspective on the figure of Penelope which aligns with the suggestion just made was the American poet Dorothy Parker. Her poem ‘Penelope’ was written when the First World War was a recent memory; she herself had been a wartime bride and had been separated from her husband when he enlisted in the armed forces. You will read this poem, which is written from the perspective of a wife left behind while her husband is away having adventures, in the final activity of this course.
Activity 10
Read Dorothy Parker’s poem ‘Penelope’ (below) once without making any notes. Then reread it as many times as you wish while thinking about the question below:
How does Dorothy Parker’s modernised Penelope compare with your own thoughts (which you considered in Activity 9) on the similarities and differences between Penelope and Odysseus in the Odyssey?
Finally, try writing a short paragraph (four or five sentences) in response to the question. You may wish to pick out some words or short phrases from the poem to include in your paragraph.
In the pathway of the sun,
In the footsteps of the breeze,
Where the world and sky are one,
He shall ride the silver seas,
He shall cut the glittering wave.
I shall sit at home, and rock;
Rise, to heed a neighbor’s knock;
Brew my tea, and snip my thread;
Bleach the linen for my bed.
They will call him brave.
Discussion
Like the Odyssey, Dorothy Parker’s poem draws a striking contrast between the domestic setting for Penelope’s story and the adventures of Odysseus, although in this case Penelope is sewing and making tea rather than weaving at a loom. Odysseus gets all the attention for having adventures (the descriptions ‘silver seas’ and ‘glittering wave’ suggest glamour and excitement), but Penelope has a much quieter life at home. This Penelope reflects that people will ‘call him brave’; there is perhaps some resentment here, and the implication from this final line seems to be that Penelope too deserves recognition for her own courage. Her life might seem more mundane than Odysseus’ but she, in waiting patiently for his return, demonstrates a different kind of bravery, yet one which goes largely unnoticed.
In her ‘Penelope’, Dorothy Parker imagines what Penelope might say or think if she were transplanted from the world of Homeric poetry to a modern-day setting. The poem contrasts with the Odyssey not only in its content but also in its form – it is a much shorter and more focused take on events than the lengthy epic of Homer. By providing us with Penelope’s perspective Parker invites her reader to reconsider what heroes do and who they are; she reminds us that heroes aren’t always men, and that heroism, like that of the waiting wife in her poem, can be quiet and unassuming as well as loud and attention-grabbing.