ABSTRACT

Penelope is the main female figure in the Odyssey. She is a heroine, one of the great women. Antinous, leader of the Suitors, compares her with Tyro who, loved by Poseidon, bore Neleus father of Nestor, with Alcmene who, loved by Zeus, bore ‘bold-spirited lion-hearted Heracles’, and with Mycene, ancestress of the famous city of much gold and centre of power in the Mycenaean Age. 1 Antinous even goes so far as to say that in force of intelligence and insight Penelope excels them all.