The Penelopiad

This chapter recounts the circumstances of Penelope’s marriage. It was arranged, via the old custom, through a physical contest. The men who won were expected to stay at the bride’s palace, gain her wealth, and give her male heirs. Penelope, only fifteen, stays in her room while the contest commences. She knows that she is not the prize, her fortune is: “I was not a maneater, I was not a Siren, I was not like cousin Helen who loved to make conquests just to show she could” (29). Though not pretty, she is kind and clever, though “cleverness is a quality a man likes to have in his wife as long as she is some distance away from him” (29). Penelope receives gossip from the maids, who say Odysseus is not a serious candidate. It is a race, after all, and he has short legs and is considered backward. He is, however, like Penelope, known for his cleverness.

Helen appears and immediately takes digs at Penelope’s expense—noting her and Odysseus’ shared flaw (short legs) and reminding Penelope that Odysseus competed to win her as well, thereby reminding her that she was “at best only second prize” (35).