Odysseus's wife and Telemachus's mother. In the beginning of the story, Penelope's most prominent qualities are passivity, loyalty, and patience (along with beauty and skill at the loom) – the age-old feminine virtues. She does very little but lie in bed and weep. But from the start we are given to understand that she possesses other hidden qualities. The trick of the loom, which she weaves and unweaves in order to hold the suitors at bay, matches the cunning of any of Odysseus's plans. Her final scene, in which she mentions the bridal bed built around the olive tree, shows her cleverness as well: she tests Odysseus just as he has tested her. Theirs is a marriage of wits.
Penelope Quotes in The Odyssey
The The Odyssey quotes below are all either spoken by Penelope or refer to Penelope. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 21
Quotes
Shame?...
How can you hope for any public fame at all?
You who disgrace, devour a great man's house and home!
Why hang your heads in shame over next to nothing?
Related Characters:
Penelope (speaker), Antinous, Eurymachus
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 24
Quotes
What good sense resided in your Penelope –
how well Icarius's daughter remembered you,
Odysseus, the man she married once!
The fame of her great virtue will never die.
The immortal gods will lift a song for all mankind,
a glorious song in praise of self-possessed Penelope.
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Odyssey LitChart as a printable PDF.
Penelope Character Timeline in The Odyssey
The timeline below shows where the character Penelope appears in The Odyssey. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1
...flies to Ithaca to speak to Odysseus's son Telemachus. Droves of men courting Odysseus's wife Penelope have been feasting for years in Odysseus's court, pestering Penelope and depleting the resources of...
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Penelope comes down from her chambers and asks the bard entertaining the suitors to stop singing...
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Book 2
Antinous replies that Penelope is to blame for the suitors' behavior. Penelope promised to choose a husband once she...
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Telemachus responds that to send Penelope back to her father would be a disgrace, and would meet with anger from both...
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...hears news of his father's death, he will give him a proper burial and encourage Penelope to marry again. Odysseus's friend Mentor reproaches the crowd for their indifference and inaction in...
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Book 4
...his way back home. The court herald Medon overhears their plans and describes them to Penelope. The queen is grieved to learn of Telemachus's absence; she prays to Athena to save...
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Meanwhile, the suitors gather a crew of twenty men and prepare a ship. Penelope lies in bed tormented; when she falls asleep, Athena sends a phantom in the shape...
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Book 5
...husband; after all, she cannot be less fair than his wife. Odysseus replies that though Penelope is not as fair as Calypso, he still yearns for home. They fall asleep in...
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Book 11
...let his mother drink the blood, and suddenly she recognized him. She told him that Penelope still grieved and waited for him, that his estate was still in Telemachus's hands, and...
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Book 13
...for fear of inciting Poseidon's anger. She tells Odysseus about the suitors' treachery and about Penelope's loyalty. Odysseus realizes he might have died Agamemnon's ignoble death had Athena not warned him,...
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Book 16
...than tolerate their insulting behavior. Telemachus asks Eumaeus to go to the palace and tell Penelope that her son has returned home safely, but to tell no one else, not even...
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...town later. Odysseus further instructs Telemachus to keep his return secret – even from Laertes, Penelope, and Eumaeus.
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Both Eumaeus and a herald from Pylos report to Penelope that Telemachus has come home. The suitors are dismayed to hear the news. They gather...
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Penelope emerges from her chambers and confronts Antinous about his schemes against Telemachus. She reminds him...
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Book 18
Athena inspires Penelope to come down and speak to the suitors. The queen tells the suitors that if...
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Book 19
...of the weapons as part of their plan. Telemachus goes to sleep, and soon after Penelope comes to question the strange visitor, and she and Odysseus-the-beggar sit down to have a...
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Penelope asks her maids to bathe the stranger, but he refuses such a luxury; instead, the...
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When the nurse leaves, Odysseus-the-beggar resumes his conversation with Penelope. She asks him to interpret a dream in which an eagle flies down from the...
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Book 20
...Telemachus loudly chastises the suitor, but Odysseus remains calm. Another suitor urges Telemachus to convince Penelope to take another husband, and Telemachus refuses yet again. Athena makes the suitors break into...
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Book 21
Penelope sets out Odysseus's bow and axes, and announces to the suitors that the archer that...
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...up like the drunken Centaur Eurythion, who was mauled by his hosts the Lapiths. But Penelope urges the suitors to let the stranger try his luck; there is no shame in...
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Book 23
Eurycleia tells Penelope that Odysseus has finally come home and killed the suitors. The nurse mentions the telltale...
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Athena changes Odysseus back into a handsome younger man. He chides Penelope for her cold welcome and tells the nurse that he will sleep alone. To test...
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Odysseus warns Penelope that he must make one more long, dangerous journey before they can settle down in...
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Book 24
...so many noble young men have died all at once. Amphimedon describes the suitors' courtship, Penelope's loyalty, and Odysseus's revenge. Agamemnon is glad that Odysseus's wife was more faithful than his...
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