Penelope: Loving, Mournful, And Coldhearted?

            Penelope seems to be a female version of Odysseus in many aspects. Upon comparing her to the other female characters in The Odyssey, it is not hard to tell that her beauty and intelligence are surpassed by only Circe and Calypso, if not equal to them. It is also admirable that she is tremendously mournful about Odysseus's "death", and staves off being wedded to one of the many suitors eating her out of house and home. In the opening chapters of The Odyssey Penelope is angry, frustrated, and helpless. She misses her husband, Odysseus. She worries about the safety of her son, Telemachos. Her house is overrun with arrogant men who are making love to her servants and eating her out of house and home, all the while saying that they are courting her. Yet, she stays strong through out the hold situation, and hopes that Odysseus will come home one day and make things right. It is interesting to note that the women who did not believe that Odysseus would ever return to Ithaca were later killed. .
             Something else worth noting is that the women Odysseus comes across in his journey are all incredibly gorgeous, and in a position of power, even if you include Penelope. Nausicaa and Arete are royalty in Phaiacia, while Circe and Calypso are goddesses. Another intriguing piece of information is that Odysseus passes up the opportunity to stay with both Circe and Calypso, even when Calypso offers to make him immortal. However, when he says no to their offers, they do not try and force him to stay and actually help him along his voyage. This contrasts rather starkly with Penelope's behavior towards the end of the novel. After Odysseus has finished killing all the suitors, and the nurse brings Penelope down to see him, she acts as if it is not him. To the normal man, this kind of insolence would make him question why he had tried for twenty years to return to his home and this woman. Yet this is not the case with Odysseus.