Greco-Roman mythology, with stories developed around heroic gods or demigods, is full of male dominance. Within these texts are gods descending upon earth to rape mortal women, goddesses silenced by their husbands and mythical female creatures that transform themselves into tress to escape from their male stalkers. “There were a lot of stories of that kind going around then- the gods couldn’t seem to keep their hands or paws or beaks off mortal women, they were always raping someone or the other.” (The Penelopiad) The oppressed state of women in these texts reflects men’s control over women through out centuries. However, as women are getting more involved in each field of social life and slowly demolishing the inequality between the two sexes, the ancient texts build upon sexism are being re-written. Adrienne Rich states the value of re-imagining these texts saying,
"Re-vision—the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction – is for us more than a chapter in cultural history: it is an act of survival. Until we can understand the assumptions in which we are drenched we cannot know ourselves." (Adrienne Rich)
Margaret Atwood is one of the several contemporary writers who utilizes feminist revisionist mythology in her novella The Penelopiad. Atwood employs feminist revisionist mythology through her characterization of Penelope, the setting of the underworld with the theme of death and the chorus of the maids to reveal the sexism in traditional views of women embedded in old texts and reshape the prevalent misogynistic culture of the past.
To begin, in the mythological text of The Odyssey, Penelope is Odysseus’ wife who is defined by her loyalty, subservience and willingness to give up power. These characteristics establish Penelope as what was considered to be an ‘ideal wife’, quiet, docile and ingenuous. “In the Odyssey, Penelope- daughter of Icarius of Sparta, and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy- is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, a woman known for her intelligence and constancy.” (The Penelopiad, Introduction). In contrast to such women, women who were outspoken, brave and potent or who interfered with jobs of men (scientific, administrative, judicial and military work) were described as imperious, sacrilegious and immoral. “Penelope and the nursemaid Eurycleia are held up as ideal women because of their willingness to remove their voices and their bodies from men’s spaces.” (Haley Taylor) showcases that Penelope was a woman favorable by men because she didn’t cross boundaries set to defend male domination. The lines: “As for the bow now,/ men will see to that, but I most of all:/ I hold the reins of power in this house.” (The Odyssey) indicates that even Telemachus –Penelope’ son- can dominate her mother. This is unlike a hierarchy we would examine within today’s families but reflects the male governed society of the past. By writing with an underlying misogynistic tone, Homer is in fact fortifying social mores that have forced women to be silenced and inept for so long. However, in The Penelopiad, Atwood presents Penelope as an independent woman who doesn’t surrender to male authority. Atwood’s version of Penelope is cunning and deceitful unlike the archetypal ‘good’ women figure in mythology. Penelope’s remark: “Don’t try to oppose them. When they try to grasp you, slip through their fingers. Flow around them.” (The Penelopiad) compares Penelope to water. The liquid is fluid, defined by momentum and energy. It highlights Penelope’s brisk escape from the utter control of men. She might not openly oppose them for her own safety, but she finds a way to trick them and liberate herself from their constraining regulations. “There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.” (The Penelopiad) demonstrates again that Penelope tricks men into believing she’s loyal and obedient when in actuality she’s a rebel in disguise. The adjective ‘delightful’ underlines Penelope’s desire to fool men in search of her own liberty and individuality. She finds joy in her freedom of thought even though she holds back from expressing it. With this shrewd and self-sufficient characterization of Penelope, Atwood subverts long-established literary dynamics that depicted men as smarter and stronger than women.
Moreover, “The Odyssey” mostly takes place on the sea, capturing Odysseus’ battle against Poseidon, but Book 11 takes place in the underworld, home of Hades, where Odysseus encounters scary gods of the underworld, Teiresias and his dead mother. Odysseus goes to the underworld to seek information about his future in a time of worry and war. He is satisfied when Teiresias, like a prophet, tells him what will eventually happen. “Death will come to you from the sea, in some altogether unwarlike way, and it will end you in the ebbing time of a sleek old age. Your people about you will be prosperous. All this is true that I tell you.” (The Odyssey) indicates the knowledge, confidence and precision of a god within the underworld. Thus, readers can view the underworld as a medium the curious male protagonist finds himself in to make use of the knowledge of greater beings. Moreover, the underworld shows that Odysseus goes on unusual and eerie journeys to access information that wholly satisfies his curiosity. On the contrary, female characters in mythology are not portrayed seeking information often. If they question ‘too much’ they are labelled by men as futile and foolish or punished because of their curiosity. For example, when Pandora opens the jar given to her by Gods because she is curious to see what is inside, strife, adversity and illnesses are released to the mankind. In addition, Pandora is punished by Prometheus. In contrast, in The Penelopiad, Penelope is described as an inquisitive woman, all her questions are answered deservedly and the underworld- where she ends up in after her death- serve as a medium for her to attain knowledge/seek the truth. Although ironic, the underworld/death actually liberates Penelope, letting her find answers to questions her mortal self couldn’t ask. “Now that I’m dead I know everything. This is what I wished would happen, but like so many of my wishes it had failed to come true”(The Penelopiad) shows Penelope’s utmost craving for knowledge yet her inability to obtain it as a mortal woman. Only when she’s “boneless, lipless and breastsless” can she reach the truth. The visual imagery these words create reflect the annihilation of the feminine body. This underlines that Penelope does not only have to be dead to attain knowledge but also has to be in a rather androgynous form, no longer expressing her feminine identity or features. Here Atwood criticizes the inaccessibility of information for women compared to men.
Furthermore, the maids of Odyssey in The Odysseus are represented as disrespectful and unfaithful. The maids are supposed to do household works that were assigned to only women at the time but in the myth they sleep with the Suitors and prove disloyal to Odysseus. Many of the Suitors that the maids sleep with are an oppressive force against Odysseus either because they want the hand of Penelope in marriage or because they want to take over the palace. Since twelve of the maids sleep with the rival of Odysseus, they are labelled not only as disloyal servants but also as shameless women for sleeping with the men. At first, Odysseus orders the maids to be hacked into pieces, considering them traitors; however, Telamachus refers to the women as “sluts” and proposes that women without chastity should suffer greater pains. The word choice of Homer already provides misogynistic diction and showcases that women who have sex with men they are not married to were considered ‘impure’ and thus punished by men. "When the whole palace is restored to order take the women out of the hall between the round-house and the great wall of the courtyard, and set on them with your long swords till you have executed them all and they have forgotten their secret love-making in the arms of the Suitors." (The Odyssey) displays the gruesome nature of Telemachus towards women by employing figurative language. In contrast, in The Penelopiad the twelve maids are loyal to another woman -Penelope- and symbolize women fellowship. Together with Penelope, the maids make up a total of thirteen women, as many as the number of lunar months in one year. This suggests that the thirteen women are a cult of the moon goddess, forever in essence with one another and praying for the same cause. However, with Odysseus’ arrival -Penelope married of and the maids murdered- this communion is broken. Thus, Odysseus represents the demolishment of female-centric religious and indigenous beliefs by male dominated religions. In The Penelopiad, Atwood also refers to supposed crime committed by the maids. “ ‘Only twelve,’ she faltered. ‘The impertinent ones. The ones who’d been rude… They were notorious whores.The ones who’d been raped,’” (The Penelopiad) this dialogue between Eurycleia and Penelope creates a different reality then the one in The Odyssey. It represents the dominance of male violence upon women by highlighting that the real culprits were not the maids but the Suitors.
“No, Sir, we deny that this theory is merely unfounded feminist claptrap. We can understand your reluctance to have such things brought out into the open—rapes and murders are not pleasant subjects—but such overthrows most certainly took place all around the Mediterranean Sea, as excavations at prehistoric sites have demonstrated over and over.” (The Penelopiad)
In conclusion, Margaret Atwood presents her revisioning of a myth to create the voice of a woman within a highly male dominated story. By doing so, Atwood ensures that such ancient stories can in today’s world have a feminist reading and no longer put forth sexist ideas upon a culture.
“If we teach the received canon with a focus on both its flaws and its recreations, we honor the voices lost to history while crafting a future where all voices have the chance to be heard alongside Homer,” (Haley Taylor)
writes Haley Taylor, signifying the contributions of feminist revisionist mythology in enhancing the inclusion and equality of women.
Works Cited
Primary Sources:
Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad. Canongate Books, 2018.
Homer, et al. The Odyssey. Seven Treasures Publications., 2010.
Secondary Sources:
Taylor, Haley. 2017, pp. 1-42.
Keating, Christine C. Taylor & Francis Group, 2014, pp. 484–500.
Study.com, Study.com, https://study.com/academy/lesson/who-are-the-suitors-in-the-odyssey.html.
Shmoop Editorial Team. “The Odyssey Summary.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/odyssey/summary#book-xxii-summary.
LitCharts. “The Maids' Deaths Symbol Analysis.” LitCharts, https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-penelopiad/symbols/the-maids-deaths.
Tang, Lisa. “How Did Females in Greek Mythology Reflect How Men Thought of Women in Real Life in Ancient Greece.” Prezi.com, 4 June 2013, https://prezi.com/earpscwzcore/how-did-females-in-greek-mythology-reflect-how-men-thought-of-women-in-real-life-in-ancient-greece/.
“Margaret Atwood's Feminist Retellings Of Mythology: TCR.” The Curious Reader, 19 Sept. 2019, https://www.thecuriousreader.in/features/feminist-retellings-margaret-atwood/.
Sarah Henstra. “10 Brilliant Retellings of Classical Myths by Female Writers.” Literary Hub, 4 Apr. 2019, https://lithub.com/10-brilliant-retellings-of-classical-myths-by-female-writers/.
“Chapter 2 Feminist Revision Mythology Revision Is the Foreground for Reinterpretation - Free Assignment For Students.” Machirurgie, 17 Jan. 2019, https://machirurgie-esthetique.com/chapter-2-feminist-revision-mythology-revision-is-the-foreground-for-reinterpretation/.
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