The Penelopiad: The Play

by Margaret Atwood

As portrayed in Homer's 'Odyssey', Penelope - wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy - has become a symbol of wifely duty and devotion, enduring twenty years of waiting when her husband goes to fight in the Trojan War. As she fends off the attentions of a hundred greedy suitors, travelling minstrels regale her with news of Odysseus' epic adventures around the Mediterranean - slaying monsters and grappling with amorous goddesses. When Odysseus finally comes home, he kills her suitors and then, in an act that served as little more than a footnote in Homer's original story, ruthlessly hangs Penelope's twelve maids.

Genres: Plays, Mythology, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Drama, Canadian Literature

82 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2007

About the author

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, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth ­ in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.

Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.

Reviews

[L.A Margarita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the feminist approach and the connection Atwood made between the myth and the modern world especially the chapter of the trial of Odysseus. But I didn't like the fact that she puts all the blame on Helen: she is as much a victim as the other women and the feminist point would have been better made if she hadn't demonized her as she did.

[O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I understand that is it heavily narcissistic to start a review of an excellent novel or in this case play with the words "This reminds me of something I wrote when I was 14-"; but this reminds me of something I wrote when I was 14 and I see it more as coincidence and similarity of muse rather than me trying to say I'm as good as Atwood.

This play is based off the novel which tells the tale of Penelope, the clever, patient wife of Odysseus, the hero of Ithaca. It shows her origins as the daughter of a naiad and a human king who was given in marriage to the winner of a footrace: basic synopsis of the little thing I did in my early teens. How interesting and how exact, how precise.

"Water
 does 
not 
resist.
Water
 flows.
When 
you
 plunge 
your 
hand
 into 
it,
all 
you

feel 
is 
a
 caress.
" (Oh lord, I should have written that novel instead of giving up at 10,000 words >< .)

Penelope though narrates from Hades, her tale is one of sadness and subservience to the hero of Ithaca. It is wonderful, the monologues are truly masterfully created, the language reflects a new imagery and meaning of the world for me, especially the journey of the birth of Telemachus, "Nine months he sailed the wine-red seas of his mother’s blood; Through
the dangerous ocean of his vast mother he sailed from the distant cave where the threads
of men’s lives are spun. And the lives of women also are twisted into the strand."

I finish this complete and copacetic.

[Juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margaret Atwood's retelling of Homer's The Oddessy (as a play) is curious, haunting, charming and lovely. I just saw a stunning version of this play where the handmaids danced, lured, played, and ultimately died in aerial silks. Atwood's writing is as smart and charming as ever. This play offers really challenging physical choices for the handmaidens and the suitors, especially when they are double or triple cast.

[Jack Hrkach · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read this in under 2 hours. I did, aloud. I am a retired actor and theatre history professor. About a month ago I read Atwood's novel, liked it very much, and reading this was a natural next step for me.

For me, perhaps it has something to do with my background, the play was even better than the novel. As you read it, if you read it, you must understand that an actress plays Penelope, and all other parts are taken by a twelve woman chorus - men's roles as well as women.

I think this would be a real adventure to watch live on stage (little chance of that these days during the pandemic - IS the theatre really dead?). It is necessarily more compact than the novel, and drives the point home directly. It's frequently funny in a dryly witty manner, and of course devastating as well.

And guess what? If you don't like it, you've only spent two hours total. But especially if you like the classics, especially as adapted by contemporary women with a fresh point of view, I'm betting you just might.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw a university production of this play a few years ago, and was absolutely blown away. Margaret Atwood's script recounts a condensed version of the events of both The Iliad and The Odessey from Penelope and her maids' perspectives. As such, the play creates a counter-narrative to the famous epic tale, wherein the women are tired of the men's heroic agenda, snarky about the ways they're expected to behave, and anxious about their constantly being sexually exploited by the men. The script is brief (it took only 45 minutes to read). But, even being this condensed, the play powerfully lays bare some of the sexist attitudes that prevail when a well-known story is told exclusively and traditionally from a male perspective.

[Deborah's Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margaret Atwood manages to flawlessly bring Ancient myths into the modernised world. The Penelopiad : The Play is a quick read which gives the reader an insight into one of the women that is often overlooked when studying or reading ancient myths. A definite must read.

[ran · Rating 4 out of 5]

she flies away with them in the end (in the way the anime is the final manga, maybe this is the final novel)

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - a beautiful echo

[Carm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greek mythology. Retelling. Feminist. Published 2005.

Ancient Mediterranean world. Bronze age, around 12 BCE. Sparta. Ithaca.

It’s an echo of Homer’s Odyssey, with the focus being on Penelope (wife of Odysseus and cousin of Helen of Troy) and the 12 Maids. Penelope’s POV is retrospective first-person in conversation with the reader, not unlike Madeline Miller’s Circe. She speaks to the reader from Hades, the Greek underworld, reflecting on her childhood, marriage, and the rumors/tales about her. She explains her purpose, views, and motives. Conversation alternates between Penelope and the chorus of Maids who speak out in response to her assertions. Penelope and the Maids feel more real in this version compared to what I remember from Odyssey.

The story is very brief, limited, and specific. It’s good, but it gives more depth if you’ve read the Odyssey or Circe first as they’ll provide important background and context for you to appreciate finally hearing Penelope and the Maids’ perspectives in their own words. Where you could read Circe without first reading the Odyssey, The Penelopiad is a good complement to either of them, despite its being published long before Circe.

The Penelopiad’s story primarily focuses on a feminist perspective of girlhood and womanhood as marginalized experiences within the stories that have been told in Odyssey. It challenges our understanding of the “hero" and encourages us to consider how female characters often lack complexity and are reduced to stereotypes.

Overall, I enjoyed it and I’m glad to have read it in play format. It offered an interesting perspective and made me think about the real-life implications for the girls and women, going beyond the limited portrayal in the Odyssey. The struggles it put forward were revealing. It brought attention to some of the experiences of girls and women during that time and place and contrasted the difficulties faced by women of different social classes or positions within the society they lived in. It was simple but thought-provoking enough and, at times, funny.

It was quick and easy. I'm glad I've read it.

[Richa Verma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Penelope’s faithfulness and devotion to her husband Odysseus is a footnote in Homer’s Iliad, just like the story of Circe is. Madeline Miller fleshed out Circe into a full-blown novel while Margaret Atwood did the same for Penelope in her book The Penelopiad.

She is shown not just as a faithful wife, but from her childhood, as a human being. The way she protected her dignity from the suitors while Odysseus is away for twenty years is heroic indeed, but also painful. She is awarded by the massacre of her twelve faithful maids whose ghosts haunt her even in the afterlife, in Hades, from where Penelope recounts her story.

Since The Penelopiad is a play, it is an easy and fast reading as compared to novels. I finished it in 5 hours flat. I loved the rising crescendo as Penelope’s tragedy draws towards the end, building expectations and leading the readers /audience to anticipate the unexpected.

Anyone with a flare for Greek mythology must have this book in their personal library. 5 on 5!

[Sarah Gunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on Penelope's story in "The Odyssey."

[Annika Agrawal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have loved to see this live 🎭

[clara · Rating 3 out of 5]

super interesting premise, rly wasn’t expecting the focus on the maids’ execution, i didn’t remember that at all from the odyssey whereas the bed and weaving and other details were very vivid in my memory. as a play it’s cool so far as embodying the maids and giving them a literal voice, but otherwise a bit straightforward and amateurish

[Mythlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a quick read, a feminist take in which Penelope has recruited and deputized the 12 maids to be her eyes and ears among the suitors at great personal cost (esp. rape). She has ordered them to speak mockingly and disrespectfully, as if on the suitors' side, so that they can report back to her. But Telemachus and Eurycleia are not in on the secret, so tragedy ensues.

Here's the part I found troubling:

On Odysseus's return, Penelope is very super-excited to tell him all about the maids' role so they can be praised and rewarded for their suffering ... but she plans to tell him in the morning, after taking her nightly sleeping-draught. While she's unconscious, Odysseus tells Telemachus to kill the maids, and - encouraged by Eurycleia to ignore their pleas to speak to Penelope first - he does.

So we have a totally virtuous and thoughtful/generous/decent Penelope (huzzah!) but also the requisite sad ending for the maids (gee thanks, Homer). For me, the mechanism intended to achieve this result doesn't quite work; it feels like Penelope is being given a free pass. That is, if we are to accept the premise that she used the 12 maids as double-agents, her failure to save their lives is fairly damning -- and I need more than a sleeping-draught to explain it away. I could buy that she was weak (e.g., she was too distracted or scared to tell Odysseus) or selfish (i.e., willing to sacrifice them to save herself). But if I am to believe she is their eager protector and advocate, I need some other mechanism to get them killed.

[Kathleen Plona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a few retelling of Greek mythology from a female perspective, and this was the worst one despite being from a popular author I recognized. If I hadn't know this was written by a woman, I'd have been sure it was a man's misguided way of trying to make a female character and failing. From constantly bashing Helen of Troy to making penelope a sad weeping pathetic wife, I was really shocked at how this was done. It's still an interesting story, and it is very well written, and it may have been a conscious choice to depict the characters in this way, but I didn't enjoy reading it becsuse of that. I've come to expect retellings of stories from a female perspective to have complex and strong females learning and growing and having identities outside their husband's and fathers and sons-and this didn't feel like it did that at all. If you got the same feeling and want the mythology and to feel good about the women in it getting a fair portrayal try this list in order of how well written I felt they were: Circe, Ariadne, A Spartans sorrow, Athenas child

[jzmcdaisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the play was written almost identically to the book, seeing the play on stage made me realize what the book could have been. The performance carries out the anger of the characters, the depth of their actions, and the haunting nursery rhymes better than the book does. The dialogue in the play was snappier, and seeing it acted out made me more immersed in the story and the character's meta fictional struggle against history. Of course it takes a capable cast to get the full effect of the unique story, and especially one that moves as much as this. But for as much as the play jumps around its very consistently entertaining and thoughtful, and incorporates the prose of the epic plays with an appropriately modern spin. I recommend the play over the book, and even moreso if you get a chance to see it live.

[Barnard Krouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have covid. i have covid i have covid i have covid. and im pathetic. this is good but not as good as the original novella. also it is 3:16am. also i have covid and i hate myself. also im level 116 in fortnite and no man will ever find that attractive. i think the play leaves out the best scene which is the courtroom scene, and I personally felt like that was much more important to add some comedic timing to an otherwise dreary few scenes. however, it has an amazing author's introduction which contextualizes the story more. i honestly think the story itself fares better in a play format and although exclusions were necessary to make things more concise, i really personally would have loved if nothing was excluded because those excluded scenes would have made the play more dynamic to me at least. still love it tho!! anyways i hate myself and my immune system bye

[Atlantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this play. Especially, as many others have said in their reviews, the feminist spin on the original story. And seeing everything from the point of view of Penelope and the Maids was so refreshing. The characterization of some of the main characters was a little different, but didn't feel wrong or off. And it gave Penelope so much more personality than "the wife of Odysseus", which is what I imagine Margaret Atwood was going for. Another thing I loved was how uncomfortable some of the scenes felt. We're meant to be uncomfortable when 15 year old Penelope is being teased about her lack of knowledge about sex, and we're meant to be uncomfortable when the suitors sexualize Penelope and the Maids. And especially when Melantho gets raped. The way the description in the written play is so straightforward about it. It really makes me sick.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sharp and bewitching Penelope story, far superior to Vonnegut's satire in its humanity and pulsing heart. Penelope here is just as bitter and scathing as Vonnegut's version, but her remorse fuels the dramatic action, as the story is re-centered on the women who helped her evade dishonor during her husband's absence.

This play proves that, if Ulysses did not return from his journey untouched by desire or destruction, Penelope holds an equal share in the collective lie of their joyous reunion. To what lengths is it necessary to go in order to save one's self from scandal? And is it worth sacrificing other women to do so? Key questions that reverberate from the classical age into our modern one.

[Pewterbreath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I picked up the play version by accident, I was really going for the novel. However, I was very pleased with the result, Atwood's Penelopiad fits really well into the play mold, and I like reading plays, when they are the sorts that are meant to be read at any rate--and this one might be even better read than performed: I could see a lot of the allusions flying over the audience's head in a theater atmosphere.

I don't think you could appreciate this very well without reading the Odyssey first--it's more of an extension of that work than something that completely stands on its own. However, if you have read the Odyssey (even a cliff's notes version in high school would do) you are in for a treat.

[Rachel LaDue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really compelling perspective and lovely prose. I felt that the theme was left unfulfilled which may be entirely due to the fact that this was a play, and without the eerie visuals and singsong wailing that's prescribed from the victims, the reader doesn't develop a solid sense of empathy for them, nor do we feel intimate with Penelope's sense of guilt. She's haunted, but the emotion is fairly distant. I have a high bar set by Handmaid's Tale--I expect if the book version would be more fully fleshed out.
My favorite thing was the subtle tension between the mollycoddling nurse and Penelope, the realistic mother.

[Em Setzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this play. i’m interested in reading the original book version with all of its different parts and elements, since the ballads/idylls/monologues of this play felt almost like a sampling platter for the original. i think margaret atwood’s penelope is a necessary and significant characterization which supplements any reading of the odyssey, and supplements any reading of odysseus himself. her writing, as always, is quick, and biting, and beautiful. the hanging of the maids is often one of the moments of the odyssey which leaves readers with a bad taste in their mouth and questions unanswered, and atwood has looked at it dead in the eyes.

[Irein Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunting feminist rendition of Penelope’s and the maids perspective of the classic tale, the Odyssey. I love the nuances this play introduced to Peneolope’s character: her jealousy towards her cousin Helen, her friendship with her maids, her complicated yearning for her husband. The best part of the play, however, was the maids. I always thought it was horrific that all the maids were slaughtered in the original tale, so it is wonderful to see Maragaret Atwood give these powerless girls such a powerful voice. I got chills when I read the maids’ monologue about how they are the unfavored ones, the ones used by those with more power. Brava!

[Fred Kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I became aware of this work via my class in Classical Mythology. Of course I knew of Margaret Atwood via The Handmaid's Tale. If I had known this work also existed as a novel I may have read that first. But the play is fine. It pretty much takes its plot from the works of Homer, but tells it from the point of view of the women in the story, which is a pretty interesting take.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling and well written. I picked up the play by accident but enjoyed reading it as such. I will likely read the novella as well. In this play we get a retelling of parts of the Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective - the wife of Odysseus. This was an interesting read after recently finishing Circe by Madeline Miller. It wasn’t Penelope who commanded my attention and pity but the twelve young maids (slaves really) that were hanged. There is the great tragedy of the story and Atwood does a good job showing us some of the female perspective in these old myths.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Harder - a play. Delightful, witty and just plain fun. also perfect to read in a single sitting (I read the first few scenes a few nights back, but started back at the beginning when I sat down with the book today). I love that this edition included sketches of the costumes and a wonderful introduction by Atwood that describes how the play came to be. Highly recommend!

[Mélie Nasr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea, I dislike the execution.

It is very important to start viewing the Antiquity through different lenses, but I just don't enjoy Atwood's style. There's a boring, simplistic element to her writing that always disappoints me. Despite 10% of this book being in verse...

So I'd really advise reading it, but not getting your hopes up in terms of style.

[LK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasnt expecting this... I read the Odyssey, a long time ago, and while I do remember Penelope, and the killing of the men I do not have one memory of the twelve murdered slave women. It's amazing how much a womans point of view can change a story - it reminds me of A Thousand Ships, also an Ilyad and Odyssey inspired book.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Odyssey from Penelope’s pov—a great premise, that has its moments, especially in depiction of the violent and insatiable nature of the men. But neither does P go unscathed. While I enjoyed it as an adaptation of the story, as a play, I’m not sure how successful it would actually be on the stage—a lot of telling, not showing. I’d be curious to see it though!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging, funny retelling of an ancient tale. My knowledge of Greek mythology is sadly lacking, so I was only very vaguely familiar with the context, but the characterisation was excellent and this was a great read. It�s a very short book, but one of Atwood�s best in my opinion.