29 Penelope: Weaver of Fate w/ Olga Levaniouk

Ancient Greece Declassified

Dr. Lantern Jack

History, Education

4.8 • 587 Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2020

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Penelope is one of the most compelling characters from ancient Greek mythology. And yet her intelligence and agency in Homer's Odyssey is seldom appreciated. Towards the end of the epic, Penelope comes face-to-face with Odysseus, who has finally returned home disguised as a beggar. After they exchange a few stories (with Odysseus still maintaining his disguise), Penelope sets in motion a chain of events that seals the fate of all the major characters in the story.

Since antiquity people have debated whether Penelope realizes who this beggar is or not. Obviously, how you come down on that question is going to profoundly affect how you see her as a character. Is she naive and passive or is she discerning and cunning?

Homeric scholar Olga Levaniouk has a unique take on this question and other aspects of Penelope's role. She joins us to illuminate the complexities of Penelope's character and mythological background. Levaniouk is Professor of Classics at the University of Washington in Seattle, and author of the book Eve of the Festival: Making Myth in Odyssey 19.

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Scholarly works mentioned during the conversation:

Elizabeth Barber, Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean, Princeton University Press, 1991. (discusses the shroud/tapestry Penelope weaves on pp. 258-9)

Louise Pratt, "Odyssey 19.535-50: On the Interpretation of Dreams and Signs in Homer," Classical Philology 89 (1994): 150-52. (argues that the 20 geese in Penelope's dream symbolize the twenty years she has waited for Odysseus)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, a quick announcement. As many of you listeners know, several history podcasters have organized tours of the country their podcast focuses on.
0:09.2	And I've been thinking about organizing a trip for you guys to Greece, where we'd spend maybe a week or so exploring some kick-ass ancient sites and eating a bunch of delicious food, definitely having a beach day included.
0:19.9	But this is only going to happen if there's sufficient interest among you. So to help me gauge the level of interest, here's what I'd like from you. If you're interested in such a trip, please send a quick email to Greecepodcast at gmail.com with the subject, trip to Greece sounds cool or something similar. That's all you got to do. It's totally non-committal.
0:41.2	I don't expect everyone who expresses interest to actually be able to travel on the dates we end up choosing. I just need to see if there's enough interest to go ahead with planning.
0:45.8	Speaking of dates, I'm looking at either late May, early June or alternatively late August,
0:50.7	early September to avoid the peak tourist season.
0:56.1	And as I said, it's probably going to be about a week.
0:59.9	You arrange your flights to and from Athens, and I'll arrange everything else for the week we're together, which will include a few days in Athens and a few days traveling to other
1:04.2	ancient sites.
1:05.0	So again, if you're interested, shoot me a line at Greecepodcast at gmail.com.
1:16.3	Thank you. line at Greecepodcast at gmail.com. Hi, thanks for tuning in to ancient Greece declassified.
1:23.1	Episode 29, Penelope, Weaver of Fate. When you think of The Odyssey by Homer, what comes
1:34.0	to mind first? Maybe it's Odysseus outsmarting the Cyclops, or dodging the monsters, Skilla
1:39.8	and Carbdis, or resisting the temptation of the sirens.
1:49.4	But while Odysseus is out there living fast times on the high seas, his wife Penelope is stuck at home, facing dangers no less daunting.
1:52.4	108 suitors have occupied her palace, are pressuring her to marry one of them, and are even
1:57.4	plotting to kill her son by Odysseus named Telemachus.
2:01.4	To appreciate just how precarious her situation is, consider her options.
2:05.8	If she outright rejects the suitors, they might arrange to have her killed.
2:10.4	But if she agrees to marry one of them, well then there's 107 other suitors whom she just pissed off.
2:15.9	And again, they might kill the guy she just
2:18.0	picked. And even if she manages to avoid that, her new husband might arrange for her son
	...

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