Adrian Fernandes

Ms. Freemon

English 1 Honors

December 13th, 2022

The Odyssey by Homer, Goes over the journey of Odysseus on his journey back home to

Ithaca. But due to some events on his way back, He ended up being delayed by about 20 years.

But back in Ithaca, the Noble men of Ithaca, also known as the suitors in the epic poem, are all

over his palace trying to marry his wife to take Odysseus’ place as king. In the novel The

Odyssey, Penelope best displays the trait of loyalty while Odysseus best shows the trait of loyalty

throughout the epic poem. Throughout the epic poem, they are also treated special from the other

characters in the book.

To begin with, the character that best displays the trait of loyalty is Penelope, The wife

of Odysseus. Now one of the reasons why I consider Penelope one of the most loyal characters in

the epic poem is because she tried to fool the suitors so she could be away from them and not

have to marry any of them soon.

“And here is another example of her duplicity, On her

loom in her house, she set up a great web and began weaving a
large and delicate piece of work. She said to us: “My lords, My
suitors, now that noble Odysseus is dead, restrain your ardour, do
not urge this marriage till I have done this work, so that the threads
I have spun may not be altogether wasted. It is a shroud for lord
Laertes. When he succumbs to the dread hand of remorseless
Death that stretches all men out at last, I must not risk the scandal
there would be among my countrywomen here if one who had
amassed such wealth were laid to rest without a shroud.” That’s
what she said; and we magnanimously consented. So day by day
she used to weave at the great web, but every night had torches set
beside it and undid the work. For three years she took us in by this
trick, a fourth began, and the seasons were slipping by, when one
of her women who knew all about it gave her mistress away,”
(pg.17, lines 100-110).
Just to sum up, that quote from the epic poem is being said by Antinous explaining to

Telemachus how Penelope, for the past three years had been fooling the suitors by telling them

she needed time to weave a shroud, but each night she would unweave it so she would have to

redo it tomorrow. You may be wondering why Penelope undoing her shroud each night would

make her loyal. Penelope most likely undid the shroud each night so she didn’t have to marry

any of the suitors soon, And her unweaving it each night means she is purposely making it so

that she takes a long time to finish it but most she could have been doing that until her death or if

Odysseus were to arrive. Another part in the epic poem that proves Penelope’s loyalty is when

she kept a promise right before Odysseus left. The Promise in book 18 is stated by Odysseus to

Penelope:

“And when you see a beard on our boy’s chin, marry

whom you want to and leave your home. That is what he said; and
now it is all coming true.”
(pg.245, Lines 260-271).
That line from the passage was the words from Odysseus to Penelope and he told her that

Penelope can marry whoever she wants if Odysseus has not returned yet and there is a beard on

the chin of Telemachus, The last sentence of the quote is said by Penelope and she says it is all

coming true. Even though she didn’t confirm that she will marry anyone directly after that she

still didn’t marry anyone else before Telemachus had a beard that started to grow and also didn’t

marry after his beard started showing.

Now the Character that best displays the traits of perseverance, is Odysseus. Odysseus in

Book 7 was in the palace of Alcinous and was asking them for passage back home.

“But for me please arrange an escort to my own country as

soon as may be, for I had to live through many hardships far from
my friends”.
(pg. 88-89, Lines 150-153)
 “But if he is one of the immortals come down from heaven,
then the gods must be playing some new tricks on us”
(pg. 90, lines 199-200)

“Alcinous, the shrewd Odysseus replied, ‘put that idea out

of your mind. I have neither the looks nor the stature of the
immortal gods who live in heaven, but those of a human being”
(pg. 90, lines 208-210)
In those lines, Odysseus is asking Areta, the Queen, for a passage home. Shortly after King

Alcinous suggested that since Odysseus looked like an immortal god he may have been one and

assumed that Odysseus was planning to play a trick on them. Odysseus told him that he was not

one and then had a short speech that ended with him saying he wanted to go back to his estate.

After his speech, the other guests there applauded him and all agreed that Odysseus should be

escorted home. After the guests left Odysseus also explained his hardships such as his crew

getting killed because Zeus struck it down and he ended up being on Calypso’s Island for 7 years

before Calypso gave him a raft to leave, But his raft got destroyed by Poseidon with him shaking

the wind and air around him and how he ended up here. He also told them how well his daughter

treated him when she and her servants found him. After that Alcinous stated:

“I wish that a man like you, like minded with myself, could
have my daughter and remain here as my son-in-law- i would give
you a house and riches. That is if you were willing to stay. But not
one of Phaecians shall detain you. God forbid such a thing! And to
set your mind at rest, I shall now appoint a day for your departure
home.”
(pg. 92-93, lines 311-317)

There Odysseus made King Alcinous grant him passage after he had explained how he

made it here and how his daughter took good care of him.

Now later on in the book when Odysseus was back in his palace but unknown to the suitors and

Penelope. Odysseus had a plan and was waiting for the perfect time to do it. So while he was

sleeping outside the mistresses of the suitors came out of the palace.
 “For a long time he debated in mind and heart what to do.
Should he leap up and put them all to death or should he let them
spend this one last night in the arms of the arrogant suitors?”
(pg. 266, lines 10-13)

“Patience my heart! You had something far more ignominious than

this to endure when the invincible cyclops devoured your brave
comrades. And yet you managed to hold out, till your cunning
notion got you clear of the cave where you had thought your end
had come”
(pg.266, lines 18-23)

There Odysseus wanted to kill them but he contemplated on if he should kill them or let them

live for another night. Killing them would also risk him having his cover as a beggar getting

blown. When Odysseus said patience he calmed himself down most likely meaning that killing

the mistresses is not part of his upcoming plan which shows he is persevering through all the

disrespect happening to him, his palace, and his wife and son.

Because of their traits, it would only make sense if they are treated differently from the

other characters by the author. Throughout the book, the author treats Penelope as a woman with

more choice over herself than other women in her time. For example, it is stated by Penelope

“Whoever strings the bow most easily and shoots an arrow

through every one of these twelve axes, with the man I will go”.
(Pg.278, Lines 69-79)

In those lines, Penelope is given a choice of how the suitors can prove themselves worthy to

marry her. Now other women are treated way differently when it comes to marriage.

“He would have looked after me properly and given me

possessions, a cottage, a bit of land, and a wife that any man would be
glad to have''.
(Pg.183, Lines 60-65)

So you can see there that wives can be gifted and most likely can’t choose who they can marry.

But the author has given Penelope more choice over herself, unlike other women in the book.
Now throughout the book, Odysseus is often referred to as a “Master-Schemer”. Now the story

of the book that best shows this is Book 9 where Odysseus and his men are in the cave of the

Cyclops, Now you may ask, Why would I pick that story as why he is a “Master-Schemer” It is

stated by Odysseus,

“On first thoughts I planned to summon up my courage,

draw my sharp sword from the scabbard at my side, creep up to
him, feel for the right place with my hand and stab him in the
breast where the liver is supported by the midriff. But on second
thoughts I refrained, realizing that we would seal our own fate as
well as his, because we would have found it impossible with our
unaided hands to aside the huge rock which he had closed the great
mouth of the cave.”
(pg.118 lines 299-307)

In those lines, Odysseus realized that he needed the Cyclops to move the stone covering the

entrance to the cave. So while they were stuck in the cave Odysseus had a plan to escape the

cave. The Cyclops also asked for his name and Odysseus told him a name that was not his own

name.

“My name is Nobody”,

(Pg.119, Lines 365-367)

There Odysseus tells the Cyclops that his name is Nobody and later on you will see why this is

part of his plan. So Odysseus planned to get the Cyclops drunk. So when the Cyclops was lying

down, he and his men picked up a wooden log that was sharpened at the end and stabbed the

Cyclops’s only eye with it. And the neighbors of the Cyclops came to his cave and asked why he

was screaming. The Cyclops yelled out “O my friends, It’s Nobody’s treachery, not violence, that

is doing me to death. So the neighbors of the Cyclops didn’t go in and help. While the Cyclops

was lying in agony on the ground he ended up moving the stone that was blocking the entrance

so Odysseus and his men could escape his cave. So to sum that up Odysseus the Master-Schemer

and his men were in the cave of the Cyclops. The Cyclops came in and covered the entrance to
the cave with the stone. Odysseus realized that he could not escape the cave unless the Cyclops

removed the stone from the entrance. So Odysseus came up with a plan where they would end up

blinding the Cyclops while he was drunk and hopefully moved the stone in the process. And to

make it so no one would come in and help the Cyclops, Odysseus told the Cyclops his name was

Nobody, So while they were blinding him the Cyclops yelled out to his neighbors that Nobody

was killing him so they all assumed the Cyclops was dying of some sort of sickness.

Throughout the epic poem, Penelope best displays the trait of loyalty and Odysseus best

displays the trait of perseverance. Penelope avoids the suitors by weaving a shroud and then

undoing it and keeping a promise she made before Odysseus left with the promise being

Penelope not marrying until Telemachus had a beard. Odysseus also displayed the trait of

perseverance with his asking for passage home at the palace of king Alcinous and him holding in

his anger from killing the mistresses outside his palace. Homer the author also treats Penelope as

a woman with extra choice over herself and Odysseus as a “master-schemer”.