(/pəˈnɛləpiː/ pə-nel-ə-pee; Greek: Πηνελόπεια, Pēnelópeia, or Πηνελόπη, Pēnelópē)
is the wife of Odysseus, who is known for her faithfulness to
Odysseus while he is absent, despite having many suitors.
Her name has traditionally been associated with marital
faithfulness,[1] and
so it was with the Greeks and Romans, but some recent feminist readings offer a
more ambiguous interpretation.[2] Her
character is beyond what was available to most women at the time, and she is
considered a match for Odysseus due to her immense strength, warmth and
intelligence.
Penelope is the wife of the main character,
the king of Ithaca, Odysseus (Ulysses
in Roman mythology), and daughter of Icarius and
his wife Periboea. She only has one son by Odysseus, Telemachus, who was born just before Odysseus
was called to fight in the Trojan War. She waits twenty years for the
final return of her husband,[8] during
which she devises various strategies to delay marrying one of the 108[9] suitors (led by Antinous and including Agelaus, Amphinomus, Ctessippus, Demoptolemus, Elatus, Euryades, Eurymachus and Peisandros).
On Odysseus's return, disguised as an old beggar, he finds that
Penelope has remained faithful. She has devised tricks to delay her suitors,
one of which is to pretend to be weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus's elderly
father Laertes and
claiming that she will choose a suitor when she has finished. Every night for
three years, she undoes part of the shroud, until Melantho, one of twelve unfaithful serving
women, discovers her chicanery and reveals it to the suitors.
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In Greek mythology, the Sirens:
(Greek singular: Σειρήν Seirēn;[1] Greek
plural: Σειρῆνες Seirēnes) were dangerous
creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to
shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on some
small islands called Sirenum scopuli. In some later, rationalized
traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa,[2] is
fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and
at others in the islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or in Capreae.[3] All
such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks.
Although a Sophocles fragment
makes Phorcys their
father,[4] when
Sirens are named, they are usually as daughters of the river god Achelous, with Terpsichore, Melpomene, Sterope, or Chthon (the
Earth). In Euripides' play, Helen (167),
Helen in her anguish calls upon "Winged maidens, daughters of the
Earth." Although they lured mariners, the Greeks portrayed the Sirens in
their "meadow starred with flowers" and not as sea deities. Roman
writers linked the Sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of Phorcys.[5] Sirens
are found in many Greek stories, notably in Homer's Odyssey.
A nymph:
(Greek: νύμφη, nýmphē [nýmpʰɛː]) in Greek mythology and in Latin mythology is a minor female nature deity
typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from
other goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate
nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to
dance and sing; their amorous freedom sets them apart from the restricted and
chaste wives and daughters of the Greek polis.
They are beloved by many and dwell in mountainous regions and forests by lakes
and streams. Although they would never die of old age nor illness, and could
give birth to fully immortal children
if mated to a god, they themselves were not necessarily immortal, and could be
beholden to death in various forms. Charybdis and Scylla were
once nymphs.
Other nymphs, always in the shape of young maidens, were part of
the retinue of
a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally the huntress Artemis.[1] Nymphs
were the frequent target of satyrs.
(/kəˈlɪpsoʊ/; Greek: Καλυψώ, Kalypsō) was a nymph in Greek mythology,
who lived on the island of Ogygia,
where she detained Odysseus for several years. She is generally
said to be the daughter of the Titan Atlas.[1]
Hesiod,
and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter,
mention either a different Calypso or possibly the same Calypso as one of the Oceanid daughters of Tethys and Oceanus.[2] Apollodorus includes the name Calypso in his list
of Nereids,
the daughters of Nereus and Doris.
Calypso is remembered most for her role in Homer's Odyssey, in which she keeps the fabled Greek hero Odysseus on her island to make him her immortal husband. According to
Homer, Calypso kept Odysseus prisoner at Ogygia for seven years,[4] while Apollodorus says five years[5] and Hyginus says one.[6] Calypso enchants Odysseus with her singing as
she moves to and fro, weaving on her loom with a golden shuttle. During this
time they sleep together, although Odysseus soon comes to wish for
circumstances to change.
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