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“We have suffered both of us. Heaven has denied us the happiness of spending our youth, and of growing old, together; do not then be aggrieved or take it amiss that I did not embrace you thus as soon as I saw you. I have been shuddering all the time through fear that someone might come here and deceive me with a lying story; for there are many very wicked people going about.”
Odyssey, Book 23; Samuel Butler translation
Book 23 Summary
Euryclea, the old nurse, tells Penelope that Odysseus has come back and all the suitors are dead. Even after being assured that the old beggar was Odysseus and Telemachus was working with him, Penelope still has her reservations. Nonetheless, she goes downstairs to meet her son and the man claiming to be Odysseus.
Penelope keeps her distance from Odysseus which baffles Telemachus. Meanwhile, Odysseus has the bard Phemius play music and for his servants to dance around like a wedding is happening to keep the town from realizing the suitors are gone. Odysseus and those who helped him will use the ruse to escape since the suitors’ families will want their revenge once they find out what happened.
Penelope then tests Odysseus. She asks Euryclea to take his bed out and set it outside for him to sleep on. This angers Odysseus and asks Penelope who’s been messing with his bed since it’s a tree stump rooted into the ground that he crafted into a bed.
Penelope breaks down and throws herself into Odysseus’ arms, apologizing for testing him. Odysseus breaks down as well and they both weep for a long time. Odysseus tells Penelope what the blind prophet Tiresias told him he had to do after getting his revenge. Afterward, they go to bed and enjoy each other’s company until morning.
When Odysseus gets up, he instructs Penelope to lock herself in her room and not leave it. Then, he gets Telemachus, the swineherd Eumaeus, and the stockman Philoetius, and together they all flee town and head for the house of Laertes, Odysseus’ father, out in the countryside.
Penelope’s Faithfulness
Penelope is understandably reticent when she meets Odysseus after revealing his identity. Telemachus and Odysseus are even a bit exasperated by it.
“Heaven has endowed you with a heart more unyielding than woman ever yet had. No other woman could bear to keep away from her husband when he had come back to her after twenty years of absence, and after having gone through so much.”
Odyssey, Book 23; Samuel Butler translation
Penelope is unmoved. She hasn’t seen Odysseus for twenty years. They were probably not married for very long before Odysseus had to fight in the Trojan War. Dare she hope that the seemingly impossible has happened? Dare she hope that this is actually Odysseus—after all this time?
Penelope tests Odysseus with knowledge that only her, Odysseus, and one of her maidservants know: what kind of bed they have. And Odysseus, of course, passes the test. When Penelope realizes it actually is Odysseus, she breaks down and runs into his arms. It’s an incredibly moving reunion, one that’s been building up at least since Book 5, if not the beginning of the poem. Finally, after all of this time, after everything they’ve been through, they can finally embrace and love each other again.
Penelope apologizes to Odysseus for her test.
“Do not then be aggrieved or take it amiss that I did not embrace you thus as soon as I saw you. I have been shuddering all the time through fear that someone might come here and deceive me with a lying story; for there are many very wicked people going about.”
Odyssey, Book 23; Samuel Butler translation
This, here, is why Penelope is a symbol of martial faithfulness. She was scared by the idea of a stranger coming to her house and convincing her that he’s actually Odysseus, or that he has concrete proof that Odysseus is dead. She was scared of moving on when there was still a chance Odysseus was still alive. She would have been unfaithful to him, to their marriage, if that had happened.
Penelope is one of the most virtuous and patient women in all of classic literature. She deserves to be more popular than Helen, Medea, Eve, Jezebel, and other women who are known due to their misconduct rather than their virtues. Our culture likes to elevate the “bad girls” and other women who defy morality and elevate selfishness. Is it any wonder our culture is in such dire straits?
Would that we would elevate more women like Penelope who are clever, intelligent, and patient; loving mothers, faithful to their husbands, protective of their virtue, and resolute against men’s misconduct.
The Question About Helen
Penelope makes a comment about Helen that had me thinking. Here’s what she said.
“Jove’s daughter Helen would never have yielded herself to a man from a foreign country, if she had known that the sons of Achaeans would come after her and bring her back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong, and she gave no thought to that sin, which has been the source of all our sorrows.”
Odyssey, Book 23; Samuel Butler translation
I have to wonder if this is actually true. Helen knew that what she was doing was wrong, being seduced by Paris and running away with him, and she did it anyway. Did she not know about the oath all of her suitors made that they would come to the aid of the man she married if someone tried to abduct her?
In the Iliad, she didn’t seem so much sorry for her actions because of the war, but because Paris turned out to be nothing more than a pretentious pretty boy and a coward. He ended up being worse than Menelaus, who wasn’t exactly the paragon of masculinity either—at least, not until the war.
Plus, she didn’t really suffer the consequences for her actions aside from being barren for the rest of her life. She went back to Menelaus’ side as his wife. She even openly talked to Telemachus about how she almost got Odysseus killed and then excused it as “some god” causing her to act that way. This does not sound like a woman who has learned a hard lesson.
Helen is a stark contrast to Penelope. Penelope waited twenty years for Odysseus, faithfully upholding their marriage, while 108 of the “best” men in the area showered her with praise, attention, and gifts. Helen violated her marriage the second a pretty boy prince came from a distant land and sweet talked her. Again, may there be more women like Penelope in character and less like Helen.
That’s all for Book 23 of the Odyssey.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Penelope Recognizes Odysseus by Jan Styka, 1901. Public domain.