Penelope And Odysseus Analysis Essay

Second guessing oneself or others can be a good thing or a bad thing. In the story of The Odyssey, Odysseus goes on a long and drawn out journey in which goes on for twenty years until he has finally returned home to his wife who has been patiently waiting for him throughout this time. Wilhelm Tischbein displays the scene where odysseus has returned home and is meeting his wife for the first time after his journey in his painting titled Penelope and Odysseus. In this painting, the overall mood of the painting can be described as uncomfortable as one could put themselves in penelope’s or odysseus’ shoes and begin to feel the air become thick and could even feel as if it was hard to breathe. The poem, on the other hand, creates a somber tone as the diction of the

In the last lines of the poem, Penelope states that “only my weaving is real,” which is a symbol of her losing her touch with reality and going crazy because she now does not know what is real as the only part of her life she knows is real. The overarching theme of the poem, would be if one is isolated from loved ones or society, they would begin to feel themselves going insane or close to insanity. Linda Pastan wrote the poem titled “Penelope and Odysseus” in which Penelope is describing how she feels about her husband leaving her for war. In the first section of the poem, penelope describes odysseus, “returning home each evening tentative, a little angry.” The reason penelope is describing Odysseus in this negative fashion, is because of the uncertainty odysseus is experiencing. In the next line of the poem, Penelope states, “And I who thought to be one of the sirens (cast up on strewn sheets at dawn.)” This line has a deeper meaning than what it may look like on the surface. Sirens are mythical creatures who temp passing sailors with an irresistible song and mislead their ships into rocks where the sirens will then take the lives