The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus

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The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus (Canongate Myths #2)

by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 12,026 ratings · 1,265 reviews

Margaret Atwood returns with a shrewd, funny, and insightful retelling of the myth of Odysseus from the point of view of Penelope. Describing her own remarkable vision, the author writes in the foreword, �I’ve chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published September 14th 2006 by Canongate U.S. (first published October 5th 2005)

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The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

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Mar 21, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Penelopiad or The Ballad of the Dead Maids

This has been my introduction to Atwood and I have to admit that I feel slightly underwhelmed. I went in with high expectations, wondering how Atwood will take the 'waiting widow' of The Odyssey and transform it into a full length novel. Turns out that she mostly indulges in recapitulating the bulk of the original with a few wild theories and speculations thrown in as supposed rumors that Penelope has gleaned in the after-life.

Which brings me to how...more

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Jan 10, 2012 David Lentz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was intrigued to read a woman's point of view focused upon one of the great heroines of Homer's "Odyssey" in Penelope. Homer's work is, of course, an epic masterpiece which has endured for more than four milennia and it is nearly impossible to do justice to this legend of incredible, ancient genius. I was disappointed in several places by Atwood's rather shallow depictions of the characters of both Odysseus and Penelope who were both courageous and brilliant in their own ways in Homer's tale....more I was intrigued to read a woman's point of view focused upon one of the great heroines of Homer's "Odyssey" in Penelope. Homer's work is, of course, an epic masterpiece which has endured for more than four milennia and it is nearly impossible to do justice to this legend of incredible, ancient genius. I was disappointed in several places by Atwood's rather shallow depictions of the characters of both Odysseus and Penelope who were both courageous and brilliant in their own ways in Homer's tale. Penelope in "Penelopiad" deems herself as bright enough but has issues with her self-image as Helen's cousin and who wouldn't? Compared to Helen, whose outer beauty heaped a decade of carnage upon two great ancient civilizations, Penelope considers herself as virtually a hag. Penelope is in her mid- to late-thirties, a woman's prime, and chased ardently by 120 young suitors who sought her for political advantages and because in my view she was a true beauty. Homer's Penelope was incredibly loyal to her husband, extremely intelligent, shrewd in her knitting and unknitting the shroud, a loving mother and managed to keep her enemies at bay until the return of Odysseus after 20 years away from home at and returning from the Trojan War. Homer treats Penelope respectfully and heroically but Atwood in the first person singular diminishes her perhaps to project the virtue of modesty but, as she narrates as a Shade in Hades, Atwood's Penelope pulls no punches. I wish that I could have retained the heroic idea of Penelope from Homer, which Atwood diminishes for me in a way that Joyce in "Ulysses" despite Molly Bloom's infidelity manages to mantain. Atwood exagerates the economic advantages in the suitors' pursuits of Penelope and, thereby, diminishes their pure physical ardor for her. The Odysseus of Homer is utterly mad for his beautiful, adoring, loyal and saintly wife. Atwood seems coy, self-absorded and even cute, at times, in her rendering of this heroic, epic tale. As for Odysseus he is, of course, massively flawed and flayed in Atwood's "Penelopiad" and criticized for his short legs and barrel chest a few too many times. In Homer remember that Odysseus is the genius strategist behind the Trojan Horse who helps turn the trajectory of the Trojan War. Odysseus ultimately honors his oath to place himself at mortal risk to stand with Menelaus who was wronged by Paris and the Trojans. Odysseus is courageous, resourceful, strategically gifted, charismatic, articulate, shilled as a warrior, powerful in battle, decisive, adept in crisis, inventive, fit and a king. Atwood blows him off as a second-rate hero to diminish Odysseus, Penelope and herself as an author. Of course, there is the killing of the 120 suitors and the hanging of the maids. The suitors were working as hard as possible to steal the wife and property of Odysseus and kill his son while Odysseus was away fighting a war. I have little sympathy for the suitors in this ancient tale. But the hanging of the maids in typically Greek tragic fashion cannot be forgiven or even properly explained by either Atwood or her Penelope. Nevermind that Odysseus was lied to by other women of his family and unaware of their complicity with Penelope in her ruses to fend off the suitors. Tragically, Odysseus must live forever with his tragic mistake as he walks the regions of Hades seeking to avoid these maidens with whose plight I very much sympathized. Their killing reveals a tragic flaw in Odysseus which, again, Atwood never fairly addresses. Although Atwood has been rather scholarly in most of her depiction of the "Odyssey" she seems to have failed to study "The Iliad" nearly half as well. The reason that Odysseus is so tragically flawed as regards to the 12 maidens is "The Iliad" itself -- the brutal, barbaric, inhuman and extended decade of war against the Trojans. Homer's catalogue of the epic brutality of this war is clearly evident throughout "The Iliad" and Odysseus cannot escape its tragic effects upon himself. Call it post-traumatic stress disorder and consider its impact upon our own heroic American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan after a decade of brutal war. Odysseus survives tens years of war with Troy and ten years of peril on the sea but cannot escape the effect of two decades of war upon his own psyche and Penelope/Atwood have no clue about this reality. The sheer and utter tragedy of the hanging of the maids plays itself out by American heroes returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder. In both epic tales the hero metamorphoses into a fiend and, although he survives the war, even in victory Odysseus cannot ultimately evade its inhumanely, tragic after-effects. The perceptive layers of tragedy reinforce blind Homer in "The Odyssey" as a true genius and in my estimation render Atwood in "Penelopiad" guilty of literary hubris. Atwood's novel does not begin to do justice to the epic poem and seems cavalier, coy and cute in attempting to do so without paying real homage to the heroic figures of Homer with a true depth of vision and understanding that Joyce so competently manages to advance with his genius in "Ulysses." I very much respect Atwood for her work in "The Handmaid's Tale" but my best advice to readers is to pass on this one in favor of reading Homer's "Odyssey" and Joyce's "Ulysses" as well as Atwood's far more worthy "Handmaid's Tale."(less)

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Jul 05, 2007 Dan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm still trying to figure out why this book didn't settle well with me. Maybe since I'd never read any of Atwood's books, I wasn't properly introduced to her style. Which means that now all I know about her style is that she likes to force a legend as old as civilization itself into a pseudo-feminist statement on post-Reagan American sexism. Which if that's your sort of thing, then fine. This book excels in that regard.

But I guess that whole idea--taking an ancient oral legend from an isolated...more I'm still trying to figure out why this book didn't settle well with me. Maybe since I'd never read any of Atwood's books, I wasn't properly introduced to her style. Which means that now all I know about her style is that she likes to force a legend as old as civilization itself into a pseudo-feminist statement on post-Reagan American sexism. Which if that's your sort of thing, then fine. This book excels in that regard.

But I guess that whole idea--taking an ancient oral legend from an isolated community of sea-faring traders in the Mediterranean that's been long gone for several thousand years, and criticizing it because it doesn't meet a societal standard that's been set by generations of promoting democracy, capitalism, and scientific endeavor--just doesn't make much sense to me. Meaning--can we really blame the Achaeans of the dark ages for being a male-dominated society? For worshiping sexist, vengeful, imperfect gods? Geezus, they relied on the livers of sheep to determine who would marry a king's daughter. Fuckryanoutloud, Ms. Atwood, cut 'em some slack!

So anyway, the Penelopiad is, as the title suggests, a collection of the various legends surrounding Odysseus through the eyes of Penelope. Which, mind you, did not see much, having been confined to the Palace of Ithika for twenty-some-odd years. So understandably, Penelope's point-of-view of such events as the oath of the quartered horse, the burning of Troy, the mutiny at Thrace, Circe, Polyphemos, the Sierenes, the Underworld, and finally, imprisonment on Calypso's isle, are not only unreliable (though this is intentional, I'm sure) but boring as hell (unintentional, but here I'm guessing). We've only heard one side of the story this whole time, she says. It didn't happen that way, she says, because it's always been men telling the stories. Okay, I see her point. But is it really a necessary point?

Though Penelope does apparently hit the nail on the head with one legend, at least--yes, she actually was stupid enough to dangle baby Telemachus in front of Palamedes and say "See? Odysseus is batshit crazy! He doesn't even recognize his own son!" Forchrissakes, ya dumb broad, what did you think was gonna happen?

The central plot involves the twelve disloyal palace maids that were executed along with the suitors upon Odysseus's return. Atwood admits, in the prologue, that this little tidbit never sat well with her. Which is fine, as it never sat well with me either. It was a sudden and rather uncharacteristic (?) outburst of rage and sadism by Odysseus. And thus the maids appear in Atwood's retelling as spirits staggering through the underworld demanding justice and haunting both Odysseus and Penelope. Again, I can deal with it. But what finally drove me over the tolerance-edge was a scene in a modern American courtroom, where Odysseus is on trial for killing the suitors. The faceless maids scream out and demand justice ("What about us! He killed us too!") , only to be threatened with contempt and thrown out. Oh puuh-leeze.

There's a right way and a wrong way to modernize a Greek myth. Margaret Atwood, unfortunately, does it the wrong way. But hey, at least it inspired me to write this big long hubb-ubb about it. That means it's one of those "thinkin'" books, right?(less)

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Aug 08, 2012 Kay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people interested in penelope

Shelves: myths-and-tales, quirky, zomgcoverart

Initially, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. A modern-day retelling of Homer's The Odyssey, the book is narrated by Penelope, the loyal and steadfast wife who waited for Odysseus's return for twenty years. Atwood shifts the focus to the marginalized female "others," particularly the 12 maids who were hung at Odysseus's return.

For those whose recollections of The Odyssey are cobwebby, a bit of background: After serving in the Trojan War, Odysseus sets sail for home but is sidetracked...more Initially, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. A modern-day retelling of Homer's The Odyssey, the book is narrated by Penelope, the loyal and steadfast wife who waited for Odysseus's return for twenty years. Atwood shifts the focus to the marginalized female "others," particularly the 12 maids who were hung at Odysseus's return.

For those whose recollections of The Odyssey are cobwebby, a bit of background: After serving in the Trojan War, Odysseus sets sail for home but is sidetracked by side adventures for ten years. Meanwhile, suitors try to win the hand of the "widowed" Penelope. When she refuses, the 100+ suitors hunker down in Odysseus's home, eat all his food, and drink his wine. Eventually, Odysseus returns disguised as a beggar and slaughters the suitors and the 12 maids who consorted with them. Telemachus then hangs the maids on the bow of a ship.

The book started out interestingly enough. Penelope is in Hades, and finally decides to break her silence. She recounts her infancy and childhood (noting her father's attempted murder), her interactions with Helen, and her married life with Odysseus. Reading through her accounts, Penelope is if not likeable, very human. She gets angry, excessively weepy, and is perpetually envious of her cousin Helen.

Up until then, the narrative was fairly constant and was an interesting take on the original poem. But when Penelope focuses on the 12 maids, the story got a bit weird.

The hanging of the maids is the central focus of Penelope's guilt and what prompts her to tell her tale. According to Penelope, she had instructed the maids to spy on the suitors by sleeping with them (instead of the maids choosing to do so of their own free will), inadvertently causing their deaths at Odysseus's hand. The maids play a large role in this book. They serve as the book's chorus, and entire chapters are dedicated to "anthropological" studies and a videotaped murder trial of Odysseus. Some interpretations (Penelope being a goddess and the maids as members of her cult) are bizarre. Others chapters (the trial of Odysseus that judges the morality of ancient practices by modern standards) are plain silly.

Overall, the book at best presents a patchwork of speculations and superficial interpretations of the myth of Penelope. I suppose if the purpose of the book was to be a fictionalized survey of different versions of Penelope's myth, it succeeded. But as a story or critical essay, it left me confused and unsatisfied. Also, the feminist slant of this book was too in-your-face for my liking.

2 STARS AND RECOMMENDED FOR THE ODYSSEY STALWARTS.(less)

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Jul 05, 2011 Shellie (Layers of Thought) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: myth lovers with a feminist twist

Shelves: spec-fic-fant-fairytales-fable-myth, country-greece-mediterranean, blog-reviews, genre-women-gender-feminism, read-in-2011, time-ancient

Original review posted at Layers of Thought.

This story is from the perspective of “the other” - a marginalized female character in the myth. It is told in the first person by Penelope, wife of Odysseus and cousin to Helen of Troy.

Interestingly Atwood tells this in an usual and layered way. Penelope is in Hades as she tell the story and pieces are conveyed in poem format at the beginning of each chapter, from the perspective of Penelope's 12 maids. These maids are sacrificed by Odysseus on his re...more

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Jan 07, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-historical-bce, fiction-fantasy

I'm a sucker for Odysseus, as many of you know (once I finish gawain's daughter, I'm planning on writing the Telemakhiad, for example), so I appreciate that this doesn't make him a villian, a wife-beater or somesuch.

There are some excellent moments -- the opening line is brilliant ('Now that I'm dead I know everything'); and the wordplay throughout is superb; the 'gilded blood pudding' simile (trust me, it's good); the relationship between the maids and Telemakhos (although she doesn't expand up...more I'm a sucker for Odysseus, as many of you know (once I finish gawain's daughter, I'm planning on writing the Telemakhiad, for example), so I appreciate that this doesn't make him a villian, a wife-beater or somesuch.

There are some excellent moments -- the opening line is brilliant ('Now that I'm dead I know everything'); and the wordplay throughout is superb; the 'gilded blood pudding' simile (trust me, it's good); the relationship between the maids and Telemakhos (although she doesn't expand upon it, which is fine, because I will); and my favorite, the post-sex story-telling, from Homer, when Penelope points out that they were both "proficent and shameless liars of long standing. It's a wonder either one of use believed a word the other said. But we did. Or so we told each other."

But these are only moments. The writing throughout is smooth, eminently readable -- Atwood is skilled at turning a phrase and leading the reader though -- and so it's difficult to respond to the novel during, only in the gaps and afterward. The interjections by the twelve murdered maids are amusing, but they're not woven into the narrative fluidly, and that's where I found myself realizing the flaws of the novel.

For one, Atwood relies almost completely on Graves's The White Goddess for her lunar/matriarchial imagery which...I'm not sure how much she's relying on her reader's ignorance, because lord knows Graves's absurd theses have become popular mythology, but it makes me instantly discount her ideas on the relationship of Penelope and the maids, which is not good, because much of her reimagining of Homer is based on that -- she never pushes Penelope's character much beyond the Penelope of The Odyssey, which, to be fair, is hard to do, given that it's one of the subtlest portraits of a woman ever. She changes Telemakhos, amusingly, very plausibly, but doesn't do much with the new character beyond use him as a way of modernizing the characters.

And that modernization -- the references to the centuries that Penelope's watched from Hades, the teenagerization, so to speak, of Telemakhos -- isn't handled very well. She doesn't do anything with it. It doesn't deepen her characters, it doesn't develop into a theme, it just sort of shows off.

It's fun, a decent hour's reading, but I don't think it's really worth much more than a cursory re-read. Once you notice the flaws, you can't stop noticing them, and it's not a good enough piece to make the flaws worth enduring.

(less)

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Jul 13, 2007 Res rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, didnt-finish

The one where Penelope tells her story from the Underworld. I made it about sixty pages before the whining got to me.

Presumably the author feels that Penelope deserves better than to be a secondary character. But since, when put on center stage, this universal-victim Penelope never asserts herself, and is chiefly worried about whether people like her and how she's not as pretty as Helen of Troy, I'd say the Odyssey did her a better turn than Atwood did.

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May 16, 2008 Alexis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Alexis by: Georgina Cullman

I have always been fascinated by Penelope and my fascination only grew after reading Ben Ehrenreich's contemporary retelling of The Odyssey, The Suitors, which focuses on Penelope and her suitors (in Ehrenreich's tale the suitors are both men and women and there are no female servants). I also appreciate the "myths" series from Canongate, of which The Penelopiad is one, although I have not read nearly as many of them as I would like.

I enjoyed this book both for its acutely researched Greco-Roma...more I have always been fascinated by Penelope and my fascination only grew after reading Ben Ehrenreich's contemporary retelling of The Odyssey, The Suitors, which focuses on Penelope and her suitors (in Ehrenreich's tale the suitors are both men and women and there are no female servants). I also appreciate the "myths" series from Canongate, of which The Penelopiad is one, although I have not read nearly as many of them as I would like.

I enjoyed this book both for its acutely researched Greco-Roman references and for its carefully poetic prose. A favorite poem from my youth, when I was fully enamored with Classical myths, and far better versed in them than I am now, was Edna St. Vincent Millay's "I dreamed I moved among the Elysian fields" which tells the story of a woman finding herself in the presence of all the mortal lovers of great immortal gods' in the Elysian fields of Hades and knows that she too belongs because her lover, whom she is addressing, is also a god. "And marvelled nothing for remembering you,/Wherefore I was among them well I knew." This poem is a great contrast to Penelope's narrative in The Penelopiad.

Atwood employs a similar trope in this novel by having it narrated from the Elysian Fields of Hades by a woman, although there is less adulation and far more cynical, wizened anger. Perhaps enlightened disclosure is more apt.

It gives the women of The Oddyssey their due recognition while recalling for me all that I love and loved of the myths I learned in Latin class and call up when faced with Classical allusions since.

The use of the Chorus in classical period plays never thrilled me when I read them in school and still do not now- so no surprise that Atwood's use of the Chorus as vehicle for the thoughts and memories of the Maids in The Penelopiad left me a bit cold. I wonder how much my reading of Pale Fire or Possession has left me unable to trust and subsequently read seriously any inclusion of poetry or song in a prose narrative (and I admit that Choruses are quite a separate thing) despite the various intentions of inclusion. The ideas conveyed in Atwood's Choral interludes are valuable and I took them in with equal gravity as all the other passages- it is only the form that I perhaps did not enjoy as much as others might. For me it was an uninvited break from the beautiful and nearly flawless prose surrounding the Chorus sections. They did not harm the overall effect or beauty or truth, they just did not add to it for me as I'm sure they might for others.

(less)

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Mar 11, 2008 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who has read the Odyssey

Recommended to Sharon by: TwitterLit

Shelves: fiction_literature

This slight book is a pleasure. I learned of it through TwitterLit, which sends out the first sentence of books. The first sentence of this one--"Now that I'm dead I know everything."--is contradicted in the next sentence and throughout the book. What we know of Odysseus from Homer is not contradicted but questioned as Penelope recounts her story. And, since she says that both she and Odysseus are "proficient and shameless liars," we are clearly meant to question what we are told. In the end, on...more

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Jun 29, 2007 katie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read_07

I tried. I know no one's going to believe me, but I tried to like this, I swear. I didn't, though. Frankly, the fact that I made it through the book is an accomplishment.

I guess it's a classic Margaret Atwood theme that women are mean to each other. And I guess, it's an indictment? That if it's bad when men treat women poorly (and it is), that it's utterly inforgivable when women treat other women poorly. But, I don't know that shoving that theme onto these characters serves anyone very well. No...more I tried. I know no one's going to believe me, but I tried to like this, I swear. I didn't, though. Frankly, the fact that I made it through the book is an accomplishment.

I guess it's a classic Margaret Atwood theme that women are mean to each other. And I guess, it's an indictment? That if it's bad when men treat women poorly (and it is), that it's utterly inforgivable when women treat other women poorly. But, I don't know that shoving that theme onto these characters serves anyone very well. Nothing was more grating in the novel than Penelope's crazed obsessive jelousy of Helen and Helen's stereotypical gorgeous-woman putdowns, sniping, and narcissism. It made neither of them sympathetic enough to spend a whole book with.

I actually think that exploring Penelope's role in the murder of her maids is a compelling and unexpected choice to make when interrogating the text from a feminist perspective-- it's certainly not the "Penelope as stereotypical faithful wife was just a tool to keep the patriarchy afloat" angle that I expected. In the early parts of the novel, I actually enjoyed the Chorus of the 12 hanged maids quite a lot. Both as a literary device to comment on Penelope's version of the story and the actual poems/songs themselves. However, I wish Atwood had chosen to make a clearer statement about the culpability of Penelope, rather than essentially boiling it down to "slave girls sure have it bad."

Despite all my not-at-all surprising issues with the themes and ideas of the text, the true dealbreaker, the thing that I could not move past, was the writing style. It's first-person, the tale told by Penelope in modern days as she wanders through Hades. I'm not wild about first-person to begin with, and I think having her clearly address a modern audience makes the whole thing way more didactic than it needs to be. More than anything, though, the little witticisms and commentary Atwood attempts to make about our society are completely transparent, never clever or funny, and pull the reader out of the story in a way that I don't think is intentional. The one about steroids leaps to mind as particularly glaring.

I had really low expectations going in and yet it still managed to disappoint. [sigh](less)

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Apr 27, 2008 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Margaret Atwood has a brilliant mind, and I think this book is a brilliant way to start the Canongate Myth series: with a story that illustrates the various ways a myth can be interpreted.

Who is telling the truth? Is there only one truth? If so, can it be known? This may seem like a slight read, but underneath it has a lot to say about these questions, about the nature of silence and storytelling itself, including unexpected danger when perhaps you think you've got everything covered ...

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Mar 07, 2008 Michelle Tackabery rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was surprised at the amount of negative reviews of this book, although once I read through them properly I understood where many reviewers were coming from. I felt that this book was a complete work of satire and fun, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the chorus sections, which were musical. I could picture them in my head, and laughed out loud at some of the choral scenes . . . until the end when it all goes rather black, which (I believe) was Atwood's intention.

The narrator, Penelope,...more

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Jun 12, 2008 Selena rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Greek Mythology Buffs

Shelves: greeks-romans, modern-lit

I really enjoyed this book, I think the whole idea of the myth series is fantastic and I am totally in support, even if I don't love every book that will come out of it.

This is a retelling of the story of The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, the wife left behind during Odysseus's twenty years of adventure and intrigue. Atwood hypothesises that the limited attention that Penelope and her plight gets in most tellings of the story is due to the patriarchal structure marginalizing her feme...more I really enjoyed this book, I think the whole idea of the myth series is fantastic and I am totally in support, even if I don't love every book that will come out of it.

This is a retelling of the story of The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, the wife left behind during Odysseus's twenty years of adventure and intrigue. Atwood hypothesises that the limited attention that Penelope and her plight gets in most tellings of the story is due to the patriarchal structure marginalizing her femenine space. On a basic level, there is no way to argue against this, even if you don't like the extremely femenist stance she takes in the rest of her retelling, you have to acknowledge that the story of The Odyssey is the original action-adventure flick, and we all know that the only roles women occupy in those stories are either, a)the damsel(or pining-lovestruck assistant, I consider them the same), or b)the femme fatale. So, there has never been any reason to flesh out her character because honestly, anyone caught up in the adventure won't want to take a side trip to find out how life back on the farm was going for those 20 years.

Atwood does a good job of setting up her Penelope as a truely feminine version of her husband, but instead of using her cunning and craftiness to outwit Cyclops or conquer cities from the bellies of wooden horses, she's employing her talents to hold off the maurading band of would-be suitors. I'm glad that she is given the time and space in this book to spell out, in her own words, the reasons why she was powerless to stop the men from invading the palace and taking over, really illustrating the lack of control that a woman of that time would have had, even over her own home. It always bothered me a bit that you were just supposed to expect the sudden image of the entire palace being overrun by ruthless brutes with no explanation as to why anyone didn't just think to keep the door closed when they came knocking.

The more radical feminist elements of the story come out when Atwood begins examining the slaughter of the 12 maids, for the questionable offense of having been raped by some of the invading suitors. She poses the thoroughly new (as far as I know) interpretation that the kingdom became something different in Odysseus's absense. That, in fact, under the rule of a strong Queen, the patriarchal structure he left behind had begun to shift and what was erected in its place was a completely matriarchal society. Specifically, she proposes the idea that the 12 maids are in fact symbols of the 12 vestal virgins of the moon worshipping cult of Artemis and that they were put to death as sacrifices and their queen was conquered by her husband, a 13th sacrifice that was a spiritual, rather than physical, death. This is not unlike the conquering/marriage of the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta, by Theseus (especially as its presented in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but now I'm crossing over to Shakespeare).

I'll say the idea is interesting, fascinating even, one I certainly enjoy taking for a spin, though, not necessarily committing my whole self to. I have a feeling Atwood is of a similar opinion on this, considering she announced it using the greek chorus of dead-maids to present the idea in a very oblique way, rather than allowing it to come from the main character as a statement of truth. I think this book gives a great fresh perspective to one of the most well known literary classics and I'd recommend it to anyone who knows the old story so well, they've forgotten to think that there might be things there in the background they never noticed. It was definitely the case with me. (less)

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Sam Grace Hey there,
I agree with what you say about Atwood's perspective, but I think she (and you in this review) underestimate the Odyssey. For example, you s...more
Sep 09, 2008 11:12am

Jun 04, 2007 Siria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 21st-century, canadian-fiction

At only 196 pages in the hardback version, this is hardly the lengthiest of Atwood's work; it's still one of her most insightful, and her most enjoyable. It hit several of my favourite story-telling kinks--the relationships between story-telling and truth, myth and history and the role of women--and for something which is so slim a work, there is an awful lot to unpack in it.

I wasn't perhaps entirely sure of the prose used for Penelope's voice--what she was saying seemed very true for her, and i...more

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Nov 18, 2008 Felicity rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Felicity by: Jeannine Hall

Shelves: grad-school, fiction, novel

A very quick read; the inverse of an epic. Atwood writes a rueful and human Penelope, undercutting here and there the heroism of The Odyssey, and undercuts her in her turn with the sharp-tongued Greek Chorus of angry, dead maids. It is partially this interplay -- chapters of Penelope's memories against highly varied poems, songs and prose excerpts from the 'chorusline' of Maids -- that makes it so easy to read the book at a few sittings. Getting two sides of the same story is interesting and ad...more

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Apr 11, 2011 Kristin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: threw-book-in-rage, classical-civs, canadian, thought-this-would-be-better, feminist

It's been four years since I read it, but I still remember my distaste for this book. It was my first introduction to Atwood, and (sadly) it put me off her for two more years. I read the entire book in one two hour setting (I skipped the songs). Overall, I think I was just really disappointed; I had just finished reading The Odyssey, and I was super excited when I heard that this book had been published. I just found it boring; I couldn't feel sympathetic towards Penelope, I really couldn't get...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Softail rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: za-really-good-stuff

This is just great storytelling. Atwood is a great writer. This tale is as funny as it is insightful. It's the wife's version of Ulysses's homeric odessy and his eventual return home.

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Feb 17, 2008 Shan O rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 12, 2008 Sarah_novak rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-and-loved

This is not a retelling from the wife's perspective. Instead it is Penelope's story, as well as the story of the other women 'left behind.' What is lovely/wonderful about the book is that it takes the time to remind us that the whole point of these stories is that they were meant to be told not just written down and read. So as with all the stories we tell/tell ourselves there are about a million and four different versions and each one has some truth and some not so much truth to it.
I've been...more

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Jul 25, 2007 Savannah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of mythology.

Margaret Atwood is one of my very favorite authors so I make it a habit to devour every single one of her books that I can find at the library. I picked this book up because I needed something short and light to read during the last week of class last term and was slightly disappointed. I think Atwood does so much better when she has full control of the story she is telling. Re-telling a myth doesn't allow her to do her wonderful twists and turns. Her voice is still there but some parts feel lik...more

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Jan 21, 2009 Gayle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story of the Odyssey is the story of the hero Odysseus and his lengthy travels following the Trojan war, as he tries to hurry home to his long-suffering wife Penelope. This book, written by Margaret Atwood, tells her story.

Good things: it's short. It has an interesting point of view: Penelope in the 21st century, long dead and accustomed to the realm of the afterlife. She has a wry and somewhat disgruntled voice, and the story is well told.

Not-as-good things: the maids. Apparently Odysseus,...more

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Dec 28, 2008 Madeline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Often I amuse myself by trying to imagine the ideas, conversations, or circumstances that led to the writing of certain books. For example, I think Philippa Gregory wrote The Other Boleyn Girl because she wanted to write a smutty romance novel disguised as history, Shakespeare probably wrote The Taming of the Shrew because someone bet him he couldn't write a play where domestic abuse is interpreted as matrimonial devotion, and Bette Green wrote Summer of My German Soldier specifically to torture...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Margaret Atwood is always a pleasure to read, and this novel was no exception. As the title indicates, this is a somewhat playful retelling of the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view. Of course she doesn't see much, since she is left at home wondering just what her husband is up to. Yes, she hears of adventures concerning the Cyclops, Calypso, etc., but she suspects that these are just exaggerated versions for her ears of time Odysseus is squandering in drunken brawls with tavern owners and fr...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Leila rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Even as an Atwood fan, I found this story unusually haunting, occasionally funny, and unforgettably poetic. While Atwood might not appreciate being labeled a "feminist writer"--there are too many these days who have forgotten the original *meaning of the term, and jump onto the negativity train upon hearing the word--her work constantly explores the lives women led or will likely lead, present, future, and in this book, the past of classical ancient Greece.

It takes a bold author to tread behind...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Snort rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-naive-voice-of-reason, beavers-hail-from-here-too

This is Margaret Atwood’s artful retelling of the Odyssey, from Penelope’s perspective. I picked this up for 3 reasons – Firstly, I’m on a quest to read as many Canadian authors as physically possible in 2013. Secondly, I recently had the pleasure of witnessing this as a play, with a grown up Anne Shirley (Megan Follows, CBC production of Anne of Green Gables) in Toronto! Finally, this is my second Homer-inspired novel of recent months, the other being “Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller (see...more This is Margaret Atwood’s artful retelling of the Odyssey, from Penelope’s perspective. I picked this up for 3 reasons – Firstly, I’m on a quest to read as many Canadian authors as physically possible in 2013. Secondly, I recently had the pleasure of witnessing this as a play, with a grown up Anne Shirley (Megan Follows, CBC production of Anne of Green Gables) in Toronto! Finally, this is my second Homer-inspired novel of recent months, the other being “Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller (see - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...). This tale never tires, and I live in fervid hope that reading about and around the Iliad brings me somewhat closer to reading the original one day.

Till then, I contend with a contemporary Penelope in her afterlife. She directs her milky stare beyond the River Styx, and contemplates how death befell her 12 faithful maids. An intriguing perspective, no doubt, however if we free ourselves from the spectacle of her distress, it is difficult to see much more beyond the senseless loss of lives and collateral damage during the Trojan War. The maids’ choruses are wickedly astute, and serve well to break up the Penelope’s monologue. One is also forced to pause and lament the relative value of life based on birth, geography, wealth and status.

The Penelopiad is a lively read, but I have to say that the play (perhaps because of my delight in seeing "Anne Shirley", which is completely unrelated to this, apart from the fact that LM MONTGOMERY IS ALSO CANADIAN) transcended the written word. Ultimately, one cannot help but feel that this novel is a feminist interrogation of the text, with little regard for The Big Picture. All the men, perhaps unjustifiably, come across as dumb, barbaric or comical. Also, I must add that it’s quite unnecessary to be told how short Odysseus’s legs are, again and again. Then again, what is reinterpretation of a myth if not divine confabulation? 3 stars.

(January 2013, Kindle-on-iPad, $13.99)
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Mar 12, 2013 Krispy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: retelling, mythology

This was an enjoyable retelling of events of the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view, but while it was amusing, I was a little disappointed that it didn't add much more depth to the story. I've always admired Penelope - for her faithfulness, yes, but mostly for her cleverness and quiet strength - and I was looking forward to seeing her experience of the events of the Odyssey.

The Penelope presented here is strong and clever, but she's also humanized because we're allowed to see her insecurities...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Dezra rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: women-s-studies, canongate-myth-series

If you look closely at myths and fairy tales, you'll see them change to reflect current cultural perceptions. I've seen and read tales where Cinderella saves herself rather than the prince rescuing her. I've seen Snow White come across strong and purposeful, not some sweet little thing lost in the woods singing with the birds. It is the nature of stories to change as cultures change, or get set aside because they no longer serve.

I was hoping for something similar with Penelope. As much as I love...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For those looking for a fresh twist on a classic tale, The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood delivers. The novella reflects back on the events of Homer’s The Odyssey from the point of view of Odysseus’ wife, the ever faithful Penelope, and the twelve maid servants who were hung upon the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War.

Having read The Odyssey several times in college, my attention was grabbed by the telling of a different character’s perspective, in particular, a feminist point of view, as The...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Najlepša leta rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Nekateri pravijo, da me je fino nategnil. Bil je mojster goljufanja. [...] Marsikdo je prepričan, da je njegova verzija dogodkov tista prava, kakšen umor, kakšna lepa zapeljivka, kakšna enooka pošast gor ali dol. Vedela sem, da je zvijačnež in lažnivec, ampak sem si mislila, ampak sem si mialila, da zvijać in laži ne bo preskušal na meni."/str. 14/

"Sem omenila, da ne jemo drugega kakor lilije? Ampak ne smem se pritoževati. Temnejše jame so bolj zanimive - tam je pogovor boljši. Če dobiš kakšneg...more "Nekateri pravijo, da me je fino nategnil. Bil je mojster goljufanja. [...] Marsikdo je prepričan, da je njegova verzija dogodkov tista prava, kakšen umor, kakšna lepa zapeljivka, kakšna enooka pošast gor ali dol. Vedela sem, da je zvijačnež in lažnivec, ampak sem si mislila, ampak sem si mialila, da zvijać in laži ne bo preskušal na meni."/str. 14/

"Sem omenila, da ne jemo drugega kakor lilije? Ampak ne smem se pritoževati. Temnejše jame so bolj zanimive - tam je pogovor boljši. Če dobiš kakšnega barabina - tatiča, mešetarja, manjšega zvodnika. Kakor veliko pridnih punčk so tudi mene na skrivaj privlačili take vrste moški. Zelo globoko dol pa ne grem pogosto. Tam prestajajo kazen zares pokvarjeni, tisti, ki niso bili zaživa dovolj kaznovani. Težko prenašam krike". (str. 16)

Živi ljudje ne hodijo več v podzemlje, kontakt z živimi imajo preko klicateljev duhov ipd. Penelopo so posebno zanimale teorije 20. stol., kot npr. da se snov spremeni v energijo (potovanje v ćasu, čas ni definiran, 100 let, 1000 let... Heleno so večkrat poklicali kakor njo, ta je bila zelo lepa, rodila se je iz jajca, ..."

How do Marilyn. Monroe, christmas, police, etc. fit in this play? Am I reading the same book as you? The book is almost funny, sad and terrific at the same time. But it was not as I expected from Margaret Atwoods books. But she made me laugh a few times. There is something very wrong in the story. The parts don't fit together...I think the writer has a big imagination and I imagine her writing style is excellent (I read it in slovenian, but it was still good), but some how she failed with this book. The unsolved questions in Ancient Greece cannot be answered with all the knowledge in 20th centurary.I never thougt in this way about this famous literary couple. This is my story and I want to be heard, in similar way she speeks from the depth of the earth. It is very explicit the moral idea: Loking from Penelopes' and 12 hanged maids' point of view. I asked myself: are they debating who is (more) guilty (and should be punished?) now? Hah! The end is strange: the main charakters go to court to decide about Penelopes' infidelity. The maids feel as if they were dirty, because they were raped by the suitors and Odysseus apparently killed them because of their sexual behaviour (THE PROBLEM WAS: they were taken by men without Odysseus'consent). I can not believe it! The narrators voice (Penelope) is dead calm and the whole chapter is so written: rape is very painful subject (in the modern world). Their marriage is based on friendship and agreement and fidelity was part of it (Penelope never thought that Odysseus will lie her too). The events take place on two levels, in the past (ancient Greece) - follow Penelopes life from birth to Odysseus return from Troja, and in the present (21st century) - Hades kingdom of the underworld. In the past, present life, in the present death. Life and death are replaced: in the present the main charakters are dead and in the past they lived. Analogy to Homers work are plants aswell:lotus (by Homer) - lilies (here). :)
PLOT AND OTHER NOTES In Hades' kingdom of underworld live Penelope and Odysseus who is chased by 12 maids he hanged. Penelope tells the story of her life from birth to Odysseus' return from the Trojan War from her point of view. Why should only Odysseus' tales be true? Penelope's life was ruined by a beautiful woman Helena, who fell in love with Paris and escaped to Troja. Penelopes husband travels over the ocean to bring back Helena. 20 years Penelope laments, cries...(about difficulties i their life, about her father's intention to throw her in the ocean, how she waited Odysseus' return, and the maids were raped by suitors, at the end hanged by her husband etc. The end is abrupt.

The most interesting thing in this novel are chronological jumps from Ancient Greece to 21th century and back. This is a little bit odd because she tells us that she has no body, no mouth to speak, and she comes in the 21th centurian world with spirit rapping from different magicians.

I don't understand chapter XXI where the 12 maids sing about Penelope's infidelity. Was it their revenge or Penelope's plan? I suppose the songs of the chorus give the reader other way of seeing at the situation, from point of view of 12 maids.

What is the meaning of the trial? The injustice cannot be undone. The maids will follow Odysseus forever. But we don't find out how Penelope and Odysseus died.

A few things that don't fit in the story: M. Monroe, christmas, police, ...I enjoyed reading this book. So different (from The Odyssey by Homer) interpretation of the myth about Odysseus and his faithful wife. Today they live in underworld, they eat lillies and are still friends. :)

Izpiski:
"živi ljudje ne hodijo več v podzemlje, kontakt z živimi imajo preko klicateljev duhov ipd. Penelopo so posebno zanimale teorije 20. stol., kot npr. da se snov spremeni v energijo (potovanje v času, čas ni definiran, 100 let, 1000 let... Heleno so večkrat poklicali kakor njo, ta je bila zelo lepa, rodila se je iz jajca, ker je bila hči Zevsa, ki je v obliki laboda posilil njeno mamo. Penel. misli, da je to izmišljeno"
01/28 page 14 9.0% "Sem omenila, da ne jemo drugega kakor lilije? Ampak ne smem se pritoževati. Temnejše jame so bolj zanimive - tam je pogovor boljši. Če dobiš kakšnega barabina - tatiča, mešetarja, manjšega zvodnika. Kakor veliko pridnih punčk so tudi mene na skrivaj privlačili take vrste moški. Zelo globoko dol pa ne grem pogosto. Tam prestajajo kazen zares pokvarjeni, tisti, ki niso bili zaživa dovolj kaznovani. Težko prenašaš krike"
01/28 page 1 1.0% "Nekateri pravijo, da me je fino nategnil. Bil je mojster goljufanja. [...] Marsikdo je prepričan, da je njegova verzija dogodkov tista prava, kakšen umor, kakšna lepa zapeljivka, kakšna enooka pošast gor ali dol. Vedela sem, da je zvijačnež in lažnivec, ampak sem si mislila, ampak sem si mislila, da zvijač in laži ne bo preskušal na meni."
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Oct 28, 2012 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love the concept (and author) of this book, which reimagines the myth of Penelope, the wife who faithfully waited for her husband Odyseuss for 20 years while he was fighting the Trojan War and then trying to sail home from it. When he finally comes home, he slaughters the hundreds of would-be suitors - and 12 of Penelope's maids. Atwood asks: "Why?"

The maids provide a chorus - written in different genres (ex/ song, court trial) to Penelope's first person account from Hades. It's richly imagine...more

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About Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.

Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, childr...more

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“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.” — 110 people liked it

“Cleverness is a quality a man likes to have in his wife as long as she is some distance away from him. Up close, he'll take kindness any day of the week, if there's nothing more alluring to be had.” — 61 people liked it

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