Odysseus Weaving Penelope’s Epithets

Jeannie T. Nguyen (University of Wisconsin)

Penelope, in the Odyssey, is recognized as the quintessential faithful wife.  Her kleos is identified through the epithets associated with her, namely her virtue, noble thoughts, excellence, constancy, and clever schemes.  Penelope’s defining myth of the weaving of the shroud is her most recognized deceit for which she is praised.  Clytemnestra, however, connected to these same epithets of dolos and metis is labeled as a treacherous woman.  Penelope’s renown, therefore, is comprised of excellent qualities as well as those which, depending on her behavior, cast doubt upon the outcome of the narrative.  The pervading question concerning Penelope throughout the Odyssey is whether or not she will fulfill her epithets and remain faithful to Odysseus.

In this paper I intend to catalogue Penelope’s epithets and how these descriptions are related to the other characters within the Odyssey.  Then I will identify whether or not Penelope completes these appellations in her behaviors.  Most importantly I hope to demonstrate that Penelope’s actions, though respectable, would not fulfill her kleos without Odysseus’ return home.  Penelope’s story and existence is so intricately woven within the framework of that of Odysseus that without him, her chastity would be futile, her constant and noble thoughts of Odysseus would only display her grief, and her cleverness would eventually be exhausted or self-defeating.  Although Penelope is known for her weaving trick, it is in fact Odysseus, through Homer’s poetic composition, who “weaves” Penelope’s epithets.

There are two main instances in which Agamemnon praises Odysseus for the excellence of his wife, Penelope.  The first occasion is in the first nekuia (11.445) where Agamemnon relates his murder to Odysseus and warns him to be watchful when he returns home.  The other occurs in the second nekuia (24.192-202) after Agamemnon hears the suitors’ tale and then speaks a congratulatory speech to Odysseus for the virtue of his wife.  In the first instance, Agamemnon attributes to Penelope two epithets: πινυτή and εὖ φρεσὶ μήδεα οἶδε.  Her μήδεα relate her to Clytemnestra, but her actions throughout the Odyssey display that she will not follow Clytemnestra’s example.  Penelope does, however, act according to prudence and employs the type of schemes (dolos) associated with that of her husband.  When Oddyseus returns home, he, in effect, completes her epithets by reclaiming his authority over the household, providing her protection of her virtue, and fulfilling her purpose of fidelity and noble thoughts.  It is not until Odysseus completes her epithets that Agamemnon for a second time extols her virtue and is then able to term her according to her epithets as σὺν μεγάλῃ ἀρετῇ, ἀγαθαὶ φρένες, ἀμύμονι, ὡς εὖ μέμνητ᾽ Ὀδυσῆος, when previously she was only prudent (πινυτή) and knowing schemes in her mind (εὖ φρεσὶ μήδεα οἶδε).  Penelope’s kleos is more than associated with Odysseus; it is completely dependent upon him for its achievement.  Her existence is wholly intertwined with Odysseus despite his absence, that only in his return, his nostos, can she uphold the epithets attributed to her throughout the Odyssey.