An Anthropology Lecture- What If the Maids Were Right?
The maids’ anthropology lecture can be seen as the one of the most subversive readings of the tale of Homer’s Odyssey. The maids offer a theory that completely undermines both the canonical and Penelope’s versions of the tale. Although this theory may … Continue reading →
An Anthropology Lecture- What If the Maids Were Right?
The maids’ anthropology lecture can be seen as the one of the most subversive readings of the tale of Homer’s Odyssey. The maids offer a theory that completely undermines both the canonical and Penelope’s versions of the tale. Although this theory may … Continue reading →
Atwood, The Penelopiad
The Penelopiad rewrites Homer’s The Odyssey, in part from the perspective of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. In this lecture, Jill Fellows discusses how Atwood’s Penelope responds to and questions Homer’s interpretation of her life, while the twelve hanged maids respond to and question Penelope’s own version of events.
Plato, Homer, & Atwood
The focus on the concept of justice and frequent references to Homer in Plato’s Republic made me think about justice as portrayed in The Odyssey and The Penelopiad. In The Odyssey, the concept of “justice” is rather obscure; humans do not appear to have much agency and the concept of “fate” and often biased discretion […] Continue reading →
The Penelopiad and The Twelve Maids
Margaret Atwood used an interesting approach to revisit The Odyssey and remake the legendary story. She starts off the book claiming the narrator is Penelope herself in Hades’ world. As the book title suggests, The Penelopiad is supposed to be a book revealing the story of The Odyssey in Penelope’s side. Penelope should be the […]
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The Art of Fibbing: A brief discussion of The Penelopiad
As soon as Jill mentioned that Penelope’s story (as well as that of Odysseus, the maids, etc.) could not be trusted, I immediately thought of Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. Not only is it one of my favorite books, it goes to show that not all narrators can be deemed honest. Furthermore, is this […]
I Haven’t Made Up My Mind About The Penelopiad
I have mixed feelings about Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad. I appreciate that it wasn’t a time consuming epic nor was it a complex interpretation of the bible, and I did enjoy reading it. I liked how nicely it fit the theme of repetition compulsion, and how it added an alternate interpretation of Penelope and the […]
The Penelopiad
This book was certainly an entertaining read. Unlike the Penelope presented in The Odyssey, Penelope in The Penelopiad has a witty personality not quite emphasized in the former work. Unexpectedly, despite not having a form or a voice, as Penelope states herself, her narration is filled with humorous twists and turns, one that gives insight […]
The Penelopiad, the film
What stood out to me the most in The Penelopiad is the artistic, visual and lyrical way it is written. I think it would be amazing to make a movie-adaptation of this novel. While I was reading, I was really reminded of the movie director Baz Lurhmann, in particular his movie Romeo+Juliet (1996). His very unique, eclectic, funky, and […]
The Penelopiad
I re-read The Penelopiad today after listening to Jill Fellows lecture on it and came to realize how much I’d missed in my initial readings. The length of the work is deceptive, and is not representative of its density; next time, I will take notes while reading! Let me just briefly introduce myself; I am […]