The Penelopiad Chapters vii & viii Summary & Analysis

Chapters vii & viii

Summary: Chapter vii. The Scar

Penelope compares being given to Odysseus to handing over a piece of meat. At Penelope’s wedding feast, the guests drank too much, except for Odysseus, who would later tell Penelope the importance of always staying sharp. Penelope was too nervous to eat, though she noticed how everyone’s attention was on Helen. Penelope thinks she should have been grateful, as Helen distracted the guests from seeing Penelope’s nerves about what would happen on the wedding night. Penelope’s mother gave a speech to her, encouraging her to be like water, flowing around any potential obstacles. After the procession to the bridal chamber, which was a play-acting of a sanctioned rape, Odysseus persuaded Penelope to scream, as if in pain, for the benefit of the people listening at the door, so that they would go away. Penelope did as he asked and now thinks back to how this was an example of his strength as a persuader.

After they had sex, Penelope noticed a scar on Odysseus’s thigh, and Odysseus told her that he got it from a boar attack when his grandfather, Autolycus, took him to Mount Parnassus. Penelope did not quite believe this story. She thought Autolycus might have had something to do with the boar attack, though now she wonders if she wanted a common tragedy in their youth at the hands of family members to connect them. Penelope then told Odysseus the story of how her father tried to drown her. By the next morning, Penelope had developed passionate feelings for Odysseus, and he behaved as though he felt the same way. A few days later, Odysseus announced they would be going to Ithaca. Penelope recounts a story most people have heard, that while Icarius ran after their chariot, Odysseus asked Penelope if she wished to remain with her father. As the story goes, Penelope pulled her veil down over her face, too modest to declare how much she desired to be with Odysseus. However, the truth was that she pulled down her veil to hide her laughter at the irony of her father, who once tried to drown her, begging her to stay. Penelope was excited about the new life ahead of her.

Summary: Chapter viii. The Chorus Line: If I Was A Princess, A Popular Tune

The Maids perform a song with instrument accompaniments. The first Maid sings of how happy she would be to be a princess marrying a young hero. The chorus then encourages her to sail away on an ocean as dark as a grave, with the hope to save her if the boat sinks. The second Maid sings of doing chores, holding back tears to make lives more comfortable for the people she serves. The third Maid asks the gods to change her life by bringing her a hero to marry, for if no hero comes, she will be destined for hard work followed by death. Melantho of the Pretty Cheeks collects money, thanking the audience.

Analysis: Chapters vii & viii

The oppression of women continues in these chapters, whether the women are princesses like Penelope or servants like the Twelve Maids. Although Penelope was attracted to Odysseus, she compared their marriage to the sale of a piece of meat, showing how objectified she felt by the process. The play-acting of rape during the procession to the bedroom, meant to be humorous, shows how common and trivial rape and violence against women were considered to be at the time. Penelope’s fear of the wedding night demonstrates the possibility that women were taught to view sex as frightening or painful. However, Penelope finds this not to be the case after she and Odysseus go to bed together. On the other hand, while Penelope entered her marriage nervous and skeptical, the Maids’ song shows how privileged Penelope was in comparison to them. Because of their place in life, the Maids would be glad to be handed over to a prince like a piece of meat, rather than live the rest of their lives suffering quietly serving others. Penelope went reluctantly into a marriage with a prince from a far-off land. To a slave, this would be a dream come true.

As Penelope questions one story and corrects a version of another story, perspective is again an issue. Despite only just having met Odysseus and knowing nothing of his grandfather, Penelope gets the sense that Odysseus’s story about his scar is not quite true. If her suspicions were correct, perhaps Odysseus did not want to portray his grandfather in a negative light for his new wife, showing how even a firsthand account of stories is not always to be trusted. However, Penelope even acknowledges that her suspicions may have arisen from her desire to connect with Odysseus. This again shows how a person’s perspective is never truly objective. Penelope then recounts the version of events from her perspective as she and Odysseus left Sparta. As Penelope is revered in mythology for traditional feminine qualities, the pulling down of her veil was assumed to be a display of modesty, as no virtuous woman would admit to desiring a man, even her husband. However, Penelope’s version again turns this assumption on its head. Rather than a display of modesty, Penelope showed defiance by laughing at the idea of missing her father. Obviously, stories from a singular perspective, in this case, especially from a male perspective, can misinterpret or leave out key details.

As Penelope becomes better acquainted with Odysseus, he proves himself to be an adept storyteller, but also a master of deception. Penelope begins to understand how deep this deception runs. While the other guests celebrated and got drunk, Odysseus made sure to pretend that he was drinking as much as anyone else, while secretly keeping a clear head. He also convinced Penelope to engage in deception by pretending to cry out in agony. While these acts of deception seem harmless enough, they support Odysseus’s reputation as a practiced liar.

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