ABSTRACT
Written for a volume honouring Gabriel Germain, the chapter elaborates on the comparison he made in 1954 between Penelope and Draupadī: if Draupadī was won by Arjuna at an archery contest, Penelope was re-won by Odysseus at a comparable event. Both royal archers are in disguise, beg their food, and live humbly; the public are uncertain whether they are still alive. The other suitors (many names are listed) are arrogant, and the hero’s victory accords with the will of the gods. Many rapprochements are made relating to the details of the contests and the emergence of the archers’ true identity. Nearly half these rapprochements were recognized by Germain, the pioneer, but his focus was on the theme of marriage by concourse (svayaṃvara) rather than on a substantial early Indo-European proto-narrative within which Draupadī and Penelope were cognate figures. The stripping and miraculous re-dressing of Draupadī may parallel the weaving and unweaving of the shroud Penelope makes for Laertes.
