Match made in heaven Essay

There is zip fastener nobler or more than admir able-bodied than when two people who see philia to eye keep preindication as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends. kor That bard created such two people in The Odyssey, their differentiate roles concealing the similarities in their natures. Both genus Penelope and Odysseus dealt with a world of pain, but in actu eithery different settings she wastes a counselling at home, while he faces a myriad of adventures and sufferings around the Greek world.Although Homer assigned them dissimilar parts in his epic, however, his story still reveals striking resemblances between Odysseus and Penelope they experience positive qualities and several faults in common as well as one major dissimilarity, all of which are the secrets to their long and blissful marriage and help them to see eye to eye. One can intimately see why Ithacas king and milksop remained happily united for so many an(prenominal) geezerho od when looking at the shining characteristics they share.Both are wondrously loyal, evening when faced with an abundance of temptations. over the course of xx years, Odysseus knew countless lovely women, from Nausicaa to Calypso, yet he remained determined to return to his wife. Likewise, Penelope had her extract of one-hundred and eighty of the best men in Greece all vying for her hand, but she still falls to weeping for Odysseus all time she thinks of her beloved maintain. Undoubtedly, The Odysseys happy ending could non have occurred without their mutual fidelity.Cunning sizeableness is the second attribute common to both Odysseus and Penelope, and it served to reunite them as much as their reciprocal faithfulness did. Odysseus is known as the man of twists and turns, and presumably, he used his acumen to select a wife who could chequer him in matters of the mind. Being the hero of the story, Odysseuss brains are flaunted by Homer in his every action, from his lean fr om the daphnia to all the creative stories he fabricated. But Penelopes wisdom can as well be detected within the text, and is crucial to the plot.For example, take the often-retold story of her web, woven and unwoven to keep the petitioners at bay for three years, or when in Book 18, she coyly elicited expensive gifts from each suitor to compensate for some of her husbands squandered estate. One can similarly adduce the testify she devised for the suitors as a confirmation of her sagacity The hand that can string this bow with the greatest lull he is the man I follow. Penelope knows very well that it is highly un standardisedly that one of her loud suitors could muster the strength needed to shoot his polished bow it was just an opposite clever way postpone marriage.Had Penelope non spun out her wiles, much like her husband had done abroad, the lovely power of Ithaca would probably have been coerced into an unwanted union long before Odysseus returned. Not only are the qu een and king of Ithaca alike for possessing dominant traits of loyalty and astuteness, they alike share several shortcomings. Firstly, although they are devoted lavish to pine for each other for two decades, neither were one hundred percent loyal to their spouse. Odysseus did not remain faithful to Penelope, sleeping with Circe, then Calypso, and perhaps some mortal women unworthy of existence mentioned as well.Odysseus claims that he lay with the Circe for the sake of diplomacy, but if so, then why did he stay in her bowleg caverns for over a year, leaving only at his crews urging? Homer also hints at Odysseuss voluntary treachery during his seven-year detainment with Calypso, including lines such as they lost themselves in love, and since the houri no longer pleased. Is the bard implying that the nymph with lovely braids once pleased him, and thus, he willingly copulated with her? Penelope, being a woman, could not have had such affaires damour and still be considered loyal. However, because she was only a woman, she still harbored an innate desire to attract men. In Book 18, she fulfilled Athenas bid that she should display herself to her suitors, fan their hearts, inflame them more in order to receive the suitors gifts, but perchance also to satisfy her own longing for attention after all, Penelope is a woman whose husband has been asleep(p) for more than twenty years. She succeeds in accomplishing both After she descends the stairs, the suitors knees went slack, their hearts dissolved with appetency and they showered her with gorgeous presents. Homer seems to reiterate this fact that Penelope enjoyed the courtship of so many fine, young princes, even though her suitors were a burden and a plague to the household. Book 19 includes a passage describing a dream Penelope had, in which an eagle, which subsequent reveals himself as Odysseus, destroys her flock of geese by snapping their necks and killing them one and all, the geese apparently symboli zing her gaggle of suitors. Penelope is comforted by this dream and seems to hope that it foreshadows future events, but also acknowledged that she wept and wailed and was sobbing, stricken at the slaying of her geese.Hence, though Penelope does remain honorable and is faithful to Odysseus during the twenty years when they were apart, she still, perhaps subconsciously, fostered a desire to do otherwise. However, Penelopes slight interest in her suitors may not be a have been such a bad thing on the contrary, it could have inspired her to forgive her husband more easily if he ever told her of his dalliances with goddesses. Second, both Odysseus and Penelope are characterized as wary, and although their safeguard helped them to succeed in many situations, both are likewise circumspect at times, causing them to be suspicious of those who love them most.One of the most tense and heavy scenes in the book takes place in Book 23, when Penelope is face to face with her devout husband for the first time after twenty years of separation, yet refuses to acknowledge him, prompting Telemachus to malign What other wife could have a spirit so unbending? Holding back from her husband, home at last for her After bearing twenty years of brutal struggle- Your heart was always harder than a flutter Her son is right, but Penelope still refused to speak to Odysseus, even after Telemachuss rebuking, causing the great-hearted Odysseus to glare up in fury over his wifes distrust.An analogous incident took place later between Odysseus and his old initiate. Seeing Laertes in the orchard, Odysseus observed him sitting alone, his heart racked with sorrow, a plentifulness enough to make even long-enduring Odysseus stop to weep. Yet, even so, Odysseus decided to test the old man first, to reproach him with words that cut him to the core. It was wholly unnecessary to verify the loyalty of Laretes, for after all, the man is his father and if that were not enough, Odysseus had heard testimonies to Laretess grief from Eumaeus as well as his own mother in Hades.Odysseuss often-praised caution prompted him to be rather irrational his handling of the situation, telling a tale that causes his dear father to grieve even more Both hands clawing the ground for dirt and grime, he poured it over his brood head, sobbing, in spasms. His suspicion inflicts unnecessary pain on his father, much as Penelopes caution angered him nevertheless, it is because their minds operate in such a similar fashion that they are able to pull in each others rash actions, caused by that extreme wariness which dominates their reasoning.It was because of their faults that Odysseus and Penelope could see eye to eye. But for all their innate likenesses, one main difference remains between the hero and heroine of The Odyssey Odysseus has pride, a kind of virile self-regard that Penelope surely lacks, for better or for worse. Odysseuss excessive disdain gets him into many difficult circumstance s his odyssey of misery would not have occurred had he not revealed his identity to the Cyclops because he could not bear being remembered as Nobody.One cannot imagine that Penelope would come about ever herself into such a predicament. However, there are some instances during the plot of The Odyssey when Penelope should have displayed more dignity. Several times throughout the story, Telemachus scolds her in a disrespectful manner, telling her to Tend to your Penelopes own tasks, declaring that he holds the reins of power in this house. Penelope didnt put her teenage son in his proper place, opting quite to meekly withdraw to her own quarters.Had Telemachus spoken similar words to his father, Odysseuss ego certainly wouldnt have allowed such a lack of reverence, and Telemachus most likely would have received some toughened love at his hands. Pride is the only significant distinction between the characters of Odysseus and Penelope, but it is a important difference as well. If I thacas queen was as self-righteous as its king, one could expect many royal family squabbles instead of the marital bliss they are famed for. Penelope is modest and demure, attributes that are suddenly necessary in order to live in harmony with a proud man like Odysseus.In conclusion, Odysseus and Penelope are alike in almost every respect, with their good qualities holding them together, their faults wind to understanding, and their one dissimilarity producing compatibility. That is why they were able to build the strongest kind of love, the love described in I Corinthians 137 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. The Odyssey itself is a testimonial to this kind of bond between husband and wife, a bond forged by harmonious natures, able to survive through twenty years of separation, temptation, and suffering.