Penelope's Daughter, page 31
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, as always, to my wonderful partner, Jim, who managed to be flexible about his beloved Homer; and to my sister, Lynn, who offered her unique vision to draft after draft.
To my son, Ivan, who is following his star and making his mother very proud.
To Verena Borton, weaver extraordinaire, who helped me look as if I know a lot more about heddles and warps than I actually do, and to my good friend Grace Salvagno, who introduced us.
To Kate Reilly, who saved a piglet once and let me use the story.
To Yanna Faraklou, proprietor of the Hotel Summery in Lixouri, Kefalonia; Tassos Spyratos Athera, Costas and Riki Drosos, and their son Jerry for their hospitality and help in finding the locations relevant to Xanthe’s story.
To Maria Kotsaftis (and to the serendipity of making her acquaintance), who paved the way for my extraordinary experiences in Kefalonia, and for her help editing a late draft.
To Adele Lewis Wrench, who had the forbearance to make her parents, Dean and Becca, wait for her to enter this world, so that the day I finished the first draft of Penelope’s Daughter would be blessed with the best possible omen.
To Meg Ruley of the Jane Rotrosen Literary Agency, who believed in this book, and to Wendy McCurdy, my editor at Berkley Books, who believed in it too. Their validation of me as a writer meant more than I can say.
To the one who started it all. To borrow a phrase, if Homer hadn’t existed, we would have to invent him. According to scholars, perhaps we did. In whatever way the story of Penelope, Helen, Eurycleia, and the other women of The Odyssey came into being, I am grateful it did.
To all the authors whose work helped shape this story. A more complete bibliography is found here, but I want to single out four people for special accolades. This book simply could not have been written without Bettany Hughes, whose book and documentary Helen of Troy helped me understand women of the Bronze Age Aegean, and whose willingness to answer my e-mail kept me going in a plausible direction. Likewise, the pioneering work of Robert Bittlestone (Odysseus Unbound) gave me a concrete place, Kefalonia, to envision my story. Third, Raymond Westbrook’s article “Penelope’s Dowry and Odysseus’ Kingship” gave me fresh insight into the nature of the conflict between Penelope and the suitors. And last, Robert Fagels, whose masterful translation of The Odyssey is worn to tatters on my bookshelf.
Finally, to all the Greeks I talked to—on ferries, in tavernas, in bookshops, and everywhere I went to research this book—who reacted to the addition of a daughter to their great epic with a shrug of the shoulders. If it makes a good story, why not? That they are Homer’s heirs seems undeniable.
GLOSSARY AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Note: The most common English pronunciation and spelling of each word is used here, although in many cases this may differ from the Greek. Names with asterisks (*) are characters taken from The Odyssey . The others characters are my own creations.
Achaeans* (ah-KEE-anz) the general name Homer used for all the Greeks
Adreste* (ah-DRES-tee) one of Helen’s handmaidens
Aegisthus* (ay-JISS-thus) enemy of Agamemnon; lover of Clytemnestra
Alcippe* (ahl-SIP-ee) one of Helen’s handmaidens
Anticleia* (an-tee-CLAY-ah) mother of Odysseus
Antinous* (an-TIN-oh-us) one of the main suitors of Penelope
Aphrodite* (af-row-DY-tee) goddess of love; associated with the sea and roses
Argos (AHR-gos) Greek kingdom and fortified palace; also the name of Odysseus’ favorite hunting dog
Aspasia (as-PAY-zee-ah) daughter of Halia; servant to Penelope
Athena* (ah-THEE-nah) daughter of Zeus, powerful goddess protecting Odysseus; her symbol is the owl
Cephallenia* (kef-ah-LEEN-ee-ah) kingdom comprising Ithaca and the surrounding islands, given as part of Penelope’s dowry by her father, Icarius
chiton (KY-tohn) women’s garment made from one piece of cloth, belted, and pinned at the shoulders
Clytemnestra* (kly-tem-NES-trah) wife (and murderer) of Agamemnon; sister of Helen; mother of Orestes, Electra, and Iphigenia; lover of Aegisthus
Ctimene* (TIM-un-nee) sister of Odysseus
Dolius* (DOHL-ee-us) keeper of the olive groves; father of Melantho and Melanthius
Eirene (eye-REE-nah) goddess of peace; Xanthe’s alias while in Sparta
Eumaeus* (you-MAY-us) swineherd loyal to Odysseus
Eurotas (you-ROW-tas) one of the rivers running through Lacedaemon
Eurycleia* (you-ree-CLAY-ah) nurse to Odysseus; head housekeeper in the palace
Eurymachus* (you-RIM-ah-kus) one of the main suitors of Penelope
Eurynome* (you-RIN-oh-me) personal servant to Penelope; head upstairs maid
Halia (HAY-lee-ah) wet nurse and first companion to Xanthe
Halitherses* (hal-uh-THIR-seez) a seer on Ithaca
Helen* Queen of Sparta; cousin of Penelope
Hera* (HEH-rah) wife of Zeus, queen of the gods, patron of women; her symbols are the crow and cuckoo
Hermione* (her-MY-oh-nee) daughter of Helen and Menelaus
himation (hy-MAY-shun) large piece of cloth thrown over one shoulder as a shawl or cape
Icarius* (eye-CAIR-ee-us) father of Penelope
Iphigenia* (if-uh-jen-EE-ah) daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, murdered by her father
Irus* (EYE-rus) nickname of the beggar who fights Odysseus to entertain the suitors
Ithaca (ITH-ah-kah) island over which Odysseus serves as lord
Lacedaemon (lass-uh-DEE-mun) kingdom in the central Peloponnese that includes Sparta
Laertes* (lay-AIR-teez) father of Odysseus
libation (lie-BAY-shun) ceremonial offering of wine to the gods
madder a rich red dye
Maia (MY-ah) Achaean nickname for one’s mother
Megapenthes* (meh-gah-PEN-theez) illegitimate son of Menelaus by a slave
Melanthius* (mel-AN-thee-us) son of Dolius; goatherd on Ithaca
Melantho* (mel-AN-tho) daughter of Dolius; house servant to Penelope
Menelaus* (men-uh-LAY-us) King of Sparta; husband of Helen
Mentor* (MEN-tohr) friend Odysseus entrusted to watch over his family and estate
Mycenae (my-SEE-nay) kingdom of Agamemnon
Neoptolemus* (nee-up-TOLL-uh-mus) son of Achilles; betrothed of Hermione
Nestor* (NESS-tohr) old King of Pylos; father of Peisistratus
Odysseus* (oh-DIS-ee-us) King of the Cephallenians; Lord of Ithaca; father of Telemachus and Xanthe; husband of Penelope; son of Laertes and Anticleia
oikos (oh-EE-kohs) land, houses, and all goods and property belonging to a man
Orestes* (oh-RES-teez) son of Agamemnon; avenger of his murder
Orthia (OHR-thee-ah) ancient goddess of women, hunting, and dance; predecessor to Artemis
Paris* prince of Troy; lover of Helen
Peisistratus* (pye-SIS-trah-tus) son of Nestor; lover of Xanthe
Penelope* (Peh-NEL-oh-pee) mother of Xanthe and Telemachus; wife of Odysseus; daughter of Icarius; cousin of Helen
peplos (PEEP-lohs) short women’s garment covering the top of the body, worn over a chiton
Phylo* (FY-loh) one of Helen’s handmaidens
Poseidon* (poh-SY-don) “the earth shaker” and god of the sea
Pylos (PEE-lohs) kingdom of Nestor, in southwestern coastal Greece
Rhexenor (rex-EE-nor) son of Halia; older brother of Aspasia
rhyton (RY-tohn) ceremonial pitcher used to pour libations
sistrum (SIS-trum) rattle made from balls attached to a paddle with cords
Sparta center of the kingdom of Lacedaemon, site of Menelaus’ and Helen’s palace
Taygetos (ty-GET-ohs) rugged mountain range between Pylos and Lacedaemon
Telemachus* (tel-LEH-mah-kus) son of Odysseus and Penelope; brother of Xanthe
Terpias (TER-pee-as) husband of Halia
Theoclymenus* (thee-oh-KLY-men-us) a seer on Ithaca
Thrasymedes* (thrah-SIM-uh-deez) brother of Peisistratus; son of Nestor
Tiryns (TEER-inz) fortified city near Mycenae
Xanthe (ZAN-thee) daughter of Odysseus and Penelope; sister of Telemachus
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. New York: Norton, 1994.
Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1995.
Brule, Pierre. Women of Ancient Greece. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh UP, 2003.
Cantarella, Eva. Pandora’s Daughters: The Role and Status of Women in Greek and Roman Antiquity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1987.
Casselman, Karen Leigh. Craft of the Dyer. New York: Dover, 1980, 1993.
Castleden, Rodney. Myceneans. London: Routledge, 2005.
Chadwick, John. The Mycenaean World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1976.
Clayton, Barbara. A Penelopean Poetics: Reweaving the Feminine in Homer’s Odyssey . Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004.
Cohen, Beth. The Distaff Side: Representing the Female in Homer’s Odyssey. Oxford, UK: Oxford UP, 1995.
Davies, Malcolm. The Greek Epic Cycle. London: Bristol Classical Press, 1989, 2003.
Felson-Rubin, Nancy. Regarding Penelope: From Character to Poetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1994.
Forrest, W. G. A History of Sparta. New York: Norton, 1968.
Harvey, Nancy. The Guide to Successful Tapestry Weaving. Seattle, WA: Pacific Search Press, 1981.
Heitman, Richard. Taking Her Seriously: Penelope and the Plot of Homer’s Odyssey . Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2005.
Hughes, Bettany. Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore. New York: Knopf, 2005.
Karydas, Helen Pournaka. Eurykleia and Her Successors: Female Figures of Authority in Greek Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.
Katz, Marylin. Penelope’s Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in The Odyssey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1991.
Kruger, Kathryn Sullivan. Weaving the Word: The Metaphorics of Weaving and Female Textual Production. Susquehanna, PA: Susquehanna UP, 2001.
Lefkowitz, Mary R. Heroines and Hysterics. London: Duckworth, 1981.
Lefkowitz, Mary R., and Maureen B. Fant. Women’s Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1982, 1992, 2005.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books, 1975, 1995.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Spartan Women. Oxford, UK: Oxford UP, 2002.
Taylour, Lord William. The Myceneans. London: Thames and Hudson, 1964, 1984.
Thalmann, William G. The Swineherd and the Bow: Representations of Class in The Odyssey. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1998.
Literary Sources:
Aeschylus, The Oresteia
Euripides, Orestes and Iphigenia in Aulis
Hesiod, Works and Days
Pausanias, Guide to Greece
Pliny the Elder, Natural History
And of course: Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey
READERS GUIDE FOR
Penelope’s Daughter
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Eumaeus the swineherd once tells Xanthe that it is “better to be a worker on the oikos of a great man . . . than to be in his own country with no crown, no land, no possessions.” What do you think of this view?
2. Helen feels strongly that a girl of Xanthe’s age needs a lover, even if she is not yet married. What do you think of Helen’s attitude and her actions to ensure that Xanthe does indeed find a man with whom to experience passion?
3. Helen tells Xanthe “it is better to act, even badly and in ways you regret, than to be afraid of life.” Do you agree?
4. Do gods and goddesses really visit the mortals in this book, or is it just their imaginations?
5. Do you ever find yourself viewing something as an omen? If so, how does it affect your thoughts or actions?
6. What do you think would have happened if Odysseus’ ruse was successful and he had never gone off to the Trojan War? If he had never come home? If he had lost the battle with the suitors?
7. Based on Adreste’s story, to what degree should Helen be held responsible for her actions in running off with Paris to Troy?
8. Xanthe uses her weaving as a jumping-off point for the telling of her story. If you were going to tell the story of one period in your own life, how would you represent it as a weaving (or another art form of your preference)?
Laurel Corona, Penelope's Daughter
