Female Characters In The Odyssey – Helpers and Hindrances

he is no less monstrous than the daughter who betrayed them to her parents or his horrid wife who called him to destroy them. Even among giants and monsters, the females mentioned are only notable for their male character relationship.

 Penelope The Passive

The entire point of Odysseus’ journey, of course, is to return to his homeland. He is seeking glory and getting home to his wife, Penelope. Of the main characters in the Odyssey, she is among the most passive. She does not take a ship herself and go out looking for her husband. She does not pick up a sword to fight for his honor or even her own freedom. She uses cleverness and a ruse to prevent herself from being taken by any of the unwanted suitors who have come to vie for her hand. Like Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and many other mythological women, she is passive, waiting for her hero to return to her. 

As Odysseus’ wife and their son’s mother, she is portrayed as noble and virtuous. Her cleverness in warding off the suitors until Odysseus comes is admirable. After Odysseus’ arrival, she helps ensure that her husband’s identity is firmly accepted by demanding he prove himself to her. She asks him to move her bed from her bedchamber. Of course, Odysseus replies that it can not be moved as one of the legs is carved from a living tree. By showing this very personal and intimate knowledge, he proves beyond a doubt that he is indeed Odysseus, returned home.

Throughout the epic, it is the cleverness and cunning of women who move Odysseus forward in his journey, and the bravery and brute strength of men are given credit for his progress.