The Penelopiad Chapters xvi–xviii Summary & Analysis

Chapters xvi–xviii

Summary: Chapter xvi. Bad Dreams

Penelope began suffering more than ever, desperately praying for Odysseus’s return. Making matters worse, Telemachus reached adulthood and began ordering his mother and the Suitors around. Without telling Penelope, Telemachus sailed off to look for news of his father. A Maid told Penelope the Suitors had sent a ship after Telemachus to kill him. Penelope clarifies that a herald named Medon told her of this plan, but as she already knew of it from her maid, she had to act surprised and distraught. Eurycleia confessed that she had helped Telemachus, and they had not wanted to worry Penelope. That night, Penelope dreamed of Odysseus having his brains eaten by the Cyclops, swimming toward the Sirens, and then making love to a goddess who turned into Helen. This nightmare disturbed Penelope so much that it woke her up, and she hoped it was simply a dream instead of a prophecy. When she fell back to sleep, she had a dream that her sister, Iphthime, visited her bed and told her that Telemachus would be all right. Penelope then asked Iphthime whether Odysseus was alive or dead, but she did not answer. She thinks of how the gods love to make mortals suffer.

Summary: Chapter xvii. The Chorus Line: Dreamboats, A Ballad

The Maids sing of how sleep is the only time they can rest, both from their chores and from men chasing after them. When the Maids sleep, they dream of being in a boat at sea, wearing beautiful dresses, and sleeping with men they love. They spend every day feasting and singing, full of laughter and kindness and without sorrow. However, the Maids then wake up and must return to working and lifting their skirts for any man who orders them to.

Summary: Chapter xviii. News of Helen

Penelope resumes her story. After Telemachus returned home, having avoided the Suitors’ ambush, Penelope chastised him for taking off on such a dangerous mission. Telemachus defended himself, saying he was no longer a child and simply took a boat that was part of his inheritance. He claimed his father would have been proud of him for escaping the women, who were unreasonable, overemotional, and showing poor judgment. After Penelope scolded Telemachus some more, he took a bath, and they then sat down to dinner with Telemachus’s friends, Piraeus and Theoclymenus. At dinner, Penelope noted how much Eurycleia spoiled Telemachus. She asked the men if they learned anything of Odysseus on their trip, and Telemachus shared that they visited Menelaus and Helen, who told them that Odysseus was on the island of a goddess whom he had to make love to every night. After Telemachus praised Helen, Penelope implied that Helen must be getting older, and Telemachus concurred, saying she was worn out and wrinkly. Penelope knew Telemachus was lying, but she was grateful for it.

Analysis: Chapters xvi–xviii

In these chapters, the tensions between Penelope and Telemachus intensify, showing how the oppression of women is so prevalent that it extends to mothers and sons. While some of Telemachus’s behavior might be seen as somewhat normal teenage rebellion, he knows that it is acceptable in his society to treat women, including his mother, as inferior. Though Penelope is in charge of the palace in Odysseus’s absence, Telemachus disrespects her authority by trying to control her and then by leaving without her permission. Telemachus seems to see Eurycleia as more of a mother figure than Penelope, likely because Eurycleia indulges and spoils him instead of trying to discipline him.

Though Telemachus has not seen his father since he was a baby and therefore has no memory of him, he knows that Odysseus, as a typical masculine hero, would understand his criticism of his mother and the Maids. The words Telemachus uses against them, such as “unreasonable” and “overemotional,” are words lobbed against women in the common day as well, showing that attitudes toward women have not changed that much. The only time Telemachus shows any affection to his mother is by falsely assuring her that she is more attractive than Helen, again showing how beauty is the only important quality for women. The fact that Penelope appreciates this compliment despite knowing it is a lie again shows how much she would like to be seen as beautiful, even though she looks down on Helen for her vanity.

How the oppression of women differs by class is revealed in the differences between Penelope and the Maids. While Penelope’s nightmares feed into her deepest anxieties, dreaming is the only respite the Maids get from the daily toil and abuse they suffer at the hands of the Suitors. In Penelope’s dreams, the ocean symbolizes unknown dangers awaiting her husband. For the Maids, however, the ocean symbolizes an escape from the drudgery and suffering of their lives. While all women experience abuse and oppression in some ways, women of higher classes, like Penelope, are largely unaware of how much more women of lower classes, like the Maids, are forced to endure.

Penelope’s dreams reveal her insecurities about Helen in particular and her femininity in general. While Penelope dreams of scenes related to some of the ordeals Odysseus did experience, such as meeting the Cyclops and the Sirens, these near-death encounters are not what startle her the most. Rather, it is the idea that Odysseus is delayed from returning home because he is having an affair with Helen. Though Penelope has heard of Odysseus’s affairs with Circe and Calypso, Helen remains the greatest threat in Penelope’s mind, even though she has returned home to Menelaus. Even in dreams, Penelope is still impacted by her jealousy of Helen’s beauty.

Perspective rears its head again as Penelope’s version of events differs from the well-known version. According to mythology, Penelope was unaware of the Suitors’ plot to kill Telemachus until Medon informed her. However, as she did not want to let on to the fact that she and the Maids were conspiring against the Suitors, she feigned her reaction. Again, there is often more than one side to a story, even one that has been told for many thousands of years.

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