The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus (Myths)

"Atwood doesn't exactly give her a makeover, but she gives her a voice, at once plaintive and wise." - Elizabeth Hand, The Washington PostAs portrayed in Homer's Odyssey, Penelope - wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy - has become a symbol of wifely duty and devotion, enduring twenty years of waiting when her husband goes to fight in the Trojan War. As she fends off the attentions of a hundred greedy suitors, travelling minstrels regale her with news of Odysseus' epic adventures around the Mediterranean - slaying monsters and grappling with amorous goddesses. When Odysseus finally comes home, he kills her suitors and then, in an act that served as little more than a footnote in Homer's original story, inexplicably hangs Penelope's twelve maids."The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood is formally daring. (...) Despite the jokiness,., anachronism and rumbustiousness, Margaret Atwood's Penelope is coherently and persuasively imagined; a heroine transplanted from contemporary Toronto to the Elysian Fields." - Carolyne Larrington, Times Literary SupplementNow, Penelope and her chorus of wronged maids tell their side of the story in a new stage version by Margaret Atwood, adapted from her own wry, witty and wise novel. Homer's Odyssey is not the only version of the story. Mythic material was originally oral, and also local -- a myth would be told one way in one place and quite differently in another. I have drawn on material other than the Odyssey, especially for the details of Penelope's parentage, her early life and marriage, and the scandalous rumors circulating about her. I've chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that must pose themselves after any close reading of the Odyssey: What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to? The story as told in the Odyssey doesn't hold water: there are too many inconsistencies. I've always been haunted by the hanged maids and, in The Penelopiad, so is Penelope herself. The author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin presents a cycle of stories about Penelope, wife of Odysseus, through the eyes of the twelve maids hanged for disloyalty to Odysseus in his absence. The story of Odysseus' return to his home kingdom of Ithaca following an absence of twenty years is best known from Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus is said to have spent half of these years fighting the Trojan War and the other half wandering around the Aegean Sea, trying to get home. But what of his wife, Penelope? The author has chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged Maids Retelling Of The Ancient Greek Tale Of Penelope, The Wife Of Odysseus, And The Twelve Maids Hanged For Disloyalty To Odysseus In His Absence. Margaret Atwood. The Myth Of Penelope And Odysseus. -- Cover. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 197-198). Odysséen gendigtet, så begivenhederne er fortalt af den trofaste hustru Penelope, der blev hjemme og ventede i 20 år, og som nu sidder i Hades i det 21. århundrede og tænker tilbage