The Penelopiad: Motifs

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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Mythology

Several well-known stories from Greek mythology are referenced throughout The Penelopiad, both to explain the setting of the book and to call into question stories that have long been accepted as established. Penelope explains some common happenings in mythology through a modern lens, showing how there is often more than one side to a story. For example, people in myths will often try to interpret prophecies delivered by a spirit, assuming certain messages are delivered vaguely for some divine reason. However, Penelope explains that spirits are often deliberately vague so that they may be summoned to the world of the living again. Therefore, the meaning attached to certain myths, or their interpretations, may not be as profound as people would like to think it is. Seeing how Penelope’s side of the story differs from the one most people are familiar with calls into question any of the well-known myths.ERE

Beauty

Beauty is brought up throughout The Penelopiad as one of the most valuable qualities a woman can have, though it also presents a danger to women. As evidenced by the rivalry between Penelope and Helen, beauty creates resentment among women. Penelope spends her life comparing herself to her beautiful cousin and even continues to do so when they are both dead. The importance men place on a woman’s attractiveness is yet another tool used to push women apart, thus ensuring their isolation from each other. However, a woman’s beauty is a double-edged sword, as it can cause problems. In Helen’s case, her beauty begins a war that lasts ten years. While Penelope blames the war on Helen’s vanity, her bias may prevent her from seeing that Helen may not have been responsible. The Maids also learn to value their beauty from a young age and to use it to their advantage when trying to extract information from the Suitors. When the Suitors end up raping the Maids, Odysseus hangs them. A woman’s beauty, therefore, can be a tool she wields, or a weapon used against her.

Modernity

In the Underworld, Penelope is telling her story from the modern-day, which shows how little has changed in the treatment of women or the fairness of the justice system since the time of the events of the Odyssey. Penelope mentions the existence of television signals and the evolution of how people try to connect with the spirits, showing how much time has passed. The chapter that depicts the trial of Odysseus is also clearly set in the modern-day, as the defense attorney refers to Odysseus’s murder of the Maids as occurring thousands of years ago. However, especially in the courtroom, the rape of the Maids is discussed casually, and Odysseus’s murder of them is dismissed because the judge believes it should not blight such a hero’s record. Despite the passage of time and the changes in technology, fundamental aspects of society do not change.