I feel that Penelope is a hero because she exudes the highest form of emotional perseverance in the book. She, unlike her husband Odysseus, can withhold the temptation to satisfy her intimate needs and the company of a suitor. After Troy was beseiged in 10 years and 3-4 more years had passed, Penelope says to her bard and the suitors, "How I long for my husband - alive in memory, always, that great man..." (88) Not only is she forced to deal with the loss of her husband, but later, when Telemachus leaves without telling her, Penelope experiences an emotional burden that most characters don't often face, leaving her psychologically exhausted.
The most profound example of her perseverance is illustrated in the creation of her wedding dress. As the "matchless queen of cunning", Penelope tells the suitors she will be ready to marry following the completion of her dress, but does not intend to finish it. The narrator says, "By day she'd weave at her great and growing web - by night, by the light of torches set beside her, she would unravel all she'd done." (96) This is a very bold action because after 3 years of working on the dress, it would be naiive of her to think the suitors would believe she was trying to complete it. For four years of tolerating the suitors to gorge themselves on Ithaca's finest wine, food, and pleasantries, she has managed to overcome many hardships through her determination and undying faith.
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I agree that in being faithfull and having perseverance,Penelope has it all above the rest. When compared to Helen who was unfaithfull to Menelaus,or the other women Odysseuss saw in the Kingdom of the Dead who were unfaith full to their husbands with Gods;Tyro who "fell in love" with Enipeus(11.271)however, unknowingly was tricked by Poseidon who urged her to "never breathe your lover's name"(11.287),or Alcmena "who slept in the clasp of Zeus" (11.303),Iphimedeia "claimed she lay in the Sea-lord's loving waves"(11.349)Eriphyle betrayed her husband and was bribed to "lure her lawful husband to his death" (11.371)Clytemnestra who with her lover,Aegisthus, plotted and killed her husband Agamemnon.
Penelope, even with the rumors that Odysseus might be dead, kept off the suitors trying to keep true to her husband's memory.
I believe that Penelope is a hero as well. She has held out from marriage to any other man in hopes that Odysseus will come back. She has already waited 20 years and has reared their child without the help of his father, and still she continues to wait. Even though Telemachus grew up without a father figure he still has so much strength, probably coming from his mother. Penelope is a hero because she is courageous and faithful. "Climbing up to the lofty chamber with her women, she fell to weeping for Odysseus, her beloved husband" (89). She cannot forget her husband and she will not give in to a new one no matter what it takes, she will continue to wait for Odysseus.
BA #5
Since some time has passed and we've seen more of Penelope in action I have some more to add.
Penelope has remained faithful as we continue to read into Book twenty and her voice is starting to express how much character she has had to summon in order to hold up under the irreverent advances of the suitors. She has displayed some cleverness, reminiscent of her husband, in unwinding the "web" she weaves during the day for Laertes funeral at night (19:160). Additionally she is quick to assess blame on her maidens when they betray her ruse:"thanks to my maids - the shameless reckless creatures- / the suitors caught me" (173-174).
She also comes to the aid of Odysseus, while he is still disguised as a beggar, unleashing a venomous rebuke upon Melantho, (another maid) for not upholding the custom of hospitality: "make no mistake, you brazen, shameless bitch, / none of your ugly work escapes me either - you will pay for it with your life" (19:99-100).
Penelope's demeanor, prior to these examples, has been demure. Undoubtedly the fortitude she has displayed during the twenty years of Odysseus's absence has been of heroic proportions. But these new scenes have also demonstrated a new facet of her decisive nature brought about when she recognizes new dissention. The tenor and vitriol commanded with spontaneous clarity is certainly a heroic trait.
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