11/17/2021 0 Comments Pity for PenelopePenelopiad by Margaret Atwood is a feminist retelling of Penelope, cousin to Helen and wife of Odysseus, following her from childhood, her marriage, the palace scandals, and to the underworld. Throughout the novel, Atwood explores the question: what actually led to the hanging of the maids?
At first, I sympathized with Penelope. She was thrown into the ocean as a baby and treated as a second option. Her marriage ceremony was filled with suitors who couldn't get first place prize: Helen. It wasn't that long into her marriage when Odysseus left for 20 years, so she had to raise Telemachus and run Ithaca. All this before 40? She was resilient. I couldn’t think of any reason not to support her. But I noticed a pattern in the syntax. When Penelope says something true at the time but is now a lie, she reiterates and corrects herself. She does that when she talks about Helen going unpunished, and when she talks with Odysseus about remaining faithful while he was away. On page 18, Penelope says that Helen was never punished for causing harm and suffering to those who made sacrifices to them while they were in the underworld. "Not that I mind. Not that I minded." In hindsight, she did care. Helen was safe, free from the consequences of her actions. It did not bother Penelope at the time, but as she is retelling, she tells the reader her truth. Penelope has lived in Helen's shadows. Helen had an extravagant background: she came out of an egg which was a product of Zeus raping Helen's mother in the form of a swan (17). Along with her Aphrodite-like beauty, Helen was an unstoppable force. In the underworld, "[T]he magicians insisted on seeing Helen, and she was willing to oblige...She has a kind of slow twirl she would do; then she'd lower her head and glance up into the face of whoever conjured up... and they were hers" (17). Helen manipulated the male gaze, even after death, all the while Penelope loathed with the asphodels. In living and in spirit, Penelope was bitter. Bitter that Helen could get away with manslaughter (18), Helen could start a war, as she once did. After the Trojan War but before Odysseus's return, Penelope was accused of having sex with the suitors. This is where I draw speculation. The novel (with exception of the chorus lines) is written from Penelope's perspective, yet in the chapter titled "Slanderous Gossip," she could clear her name. She can simply state: "I did not sleep with the suitors," or she can defend herself, and 12 maids die. We both know what decision Penelope made. When Penelope and Odysseus are in bed together exchanging 20 years' worth of stories, he says how much he has missed her, even when he was having sex with goddesses: Circe and Calypso. She tells him how much she has wept and would never be unfaithful. "It's a wonder either one of us believed a word the other said. But we did. Or so we told each other” (134). The two expert deceivers were at a standstill. Odysseus had no proof of her unfaithfulness, and Penelope had only her word. Whose life is more expendable: Penelope’s or the lives of 12 maids? She was constantly punished and secondary to Helen, so she projects the power imbalance to the maids and further abuses them. Here is an interesting piece about an interaction between Penelope, Odysseus, and the maids together.
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11/10/2021 0 Comments Circe's BETRAYALCirce by Madeline Miller tells the myth of the titular goddess Circe, daughter of son god Helios, witch of Aiaia, lover of Odysseus, and mother of Telegonus. Her story starts with her birth, then the birth of her younger brother, Aeetes. After witnessing the whipping Prometheus and the god's cruelty alike, she comes across her first encounter with betrayal. Circe met a mortal, poor yet rich spirited fisherman, Glaucous. After building an intimate connection with him, she got the sap from blossom flowers to turn him into a sea god (47-49). That was the first of her many mistakes. Once she brought him back to Olympus, he was well adjusted to his new role as God of the Sea. As a new god, Glaucous drew attention of many. Just as he caught Circe's eye, Scylla caught Glaucous' eye, and he abandoned her (52-53). Feeling neglected, Circe changed her into a three-headed sea monster. Even after Scylla's transformation, Glaucous still asked "Can she not be changed back"(60)? Not even considering Circe as an option, he still wanted Scylla. That must hurt more than stubbing your pinky toe on a table leg. Circe has had her fair share of conflicts with Athena. When Circe gave birth to Odysseus's and her son Telegonus, Athena appeared and wanted Circe to hand him over. Athena saw him as a threat to her because she thought that when Telegonus grew up, he would stand up against Athena (250). Circe declined and kept him. When Circe, Penelope, Telegonus, and Telemachus are together on Aiaia, Athena appears offering a voyage and glory to Telemachus. When he declines, the same fate is offered to Circe's son. She begs him not to speak; she knows she this means they will not meet again. Telegonus agrees to go on the voyage with Athena and leave Circe (351-354). Circe went out of her way to help others and often backfired. She is a valuable partner, friend, sister, daughter, mother, and most importantly individual. We often forget that people are not just what their relationships make them out to be. In this case, Circe is selfless. She gives refuge to sailors that wash up on her shores, some of which took advantage of her. Although she did not welcome Penelope and Telemachus with open arms, she hurt them on her island. An island that she was sent to as punishment. 10/27/2021 0 Comments Identity Development and DestructionThe Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason is beautifully written: the different perspectives, outcomes, and shared experienced between characters. When I learned we would be reading a rendition of The Odyssey written by Homer, I dreaded the book. I believed that the original myth was what sparked every cliche. From Odysseus's journey home and people using the word "Odyssey" to describe their similar trials and tribulations, to Penelope learning from the oracle that "No man (AKA Odysseus) will return to you, but not for a long while" (154). This is probably where William Shakespeare drew inspiration from to write Romeo and Juliet, since Penelope believed that Odysseus died. But there's more than overused cliches that can be drawn from this novel. The Lost Books of the Odyssey is not just a myth about death and homecoming; it is very much about how Odysseus has changed since leaving Ithaca to fight in the Trojan War. Throughout the novel, Odysseus outsmarts every obstacle thrown his way. Although many had failed, Odysseus's cleverness figured out a way to survive the Sirens by pulling his men's ears with wax and by tying himself to the mast of the ship (81). When he and his men trespassed into Polyphemus's cave, he said his name was Nobody. In Polyphemus's dream, he spoke to his father Poseidon and said that "it was Nobody who did this to me and must die" (147-149). Every step of the way, Odysseus outsmarted death; he literally went to Hell and came back (Chapter 24). But what good is the journey home if he has no home to go to? In the chapter, "The Winter Book," Odysseus reminisces on his life before the journey, but "[e]ventually, memory is subsumed in white noise" (144). His adventures, his relationship with Penelope, everything disappears. Without his memories, he feels as if he does not deserve his name. Odysseus rejects his name, calling himself Mr. O (145). When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, he disguises himself as a beggar to not draw any unwanted attention. To him, the journey is not over. Even when he is reunited with his family and celebrated by the community, he yearns to be left alone (204-205). Odysseus made it home, but at what cost? In "Last Islands," Odysseus and the men who survived the war go to retrace his journey. Calypso's cave abandoned, Circe's isle lonely and her house burned down, the island of the cyclops only had the remains of the one-eyed creatures, and finally Troy, the fallen city, celebrating its rebirth due to the war (221-227). Odysseus can escape death, but he cannot escape reality. The reality that his Odyssey broke his spirit, leading to his disappointment when he revisited the places he journeyed to and saw little to no trace of it. 10/7/2021 0 Comments Beloved vs. House of Names Wow. House of Names is my favorite rendition of Oresteia out of all the ones we have read. Colm Tóibín does a beautiful job humanizing Clytemnestra, Orestes, and Electra. Tóibín does something interesting with each character’s point of view: both Clytemnestra and Electra’s chapters are written in first person, whereas Orestes chapters are written in third person limited POV. I felt more connected to Clytemnestra and Electra. In the original myth, we knew little about them. I believed Tóibín chose to write the Orestes chapters in third person POV because we already know a lot about his thoughts because he was the focus of the Oresteia. Yes, we are given information about his whereabouts during the Trojan War, but that is the story Tóibín has chosen to tell. How Tóibín wrote this novel was compelling. But the most compelling part was towards the end. After Orestes kills Clytemnestra (235), her ghost haunts the corridors of the house. It almost felt like déjà vu when I read this. A few years ago, I read Beloved by Toni Morrison, a story set in the middle 1800s about a slave woman who set herself free and running away to Ohio but she cannot rid of the memories of the plantation. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. Sethe had killed her baby Beloved in hopes to stop the cycle of oppression and slavery. Just as Orestes killed Clytemnestra, he did it end put an end of injustice. Sethe commits infanticide to protect future generations, until her baby haunts her 18 years later; Orestes commits matricide to end the murder cycle, until Clytemnestra is manifested in Electra. In the end of House of Names, Electra was more in control of herself and of her land. “She had become brisk, almost sharp. Since she spent her day issuing instructions, consulting Leander and the elders, exercising control, her movements were now decisive and direct and her voice deeper, her tone more exact and precise” (256). Does the cycle ever end? In Beloved, slavery becomes Jim Crow, red-lining, suppression of voting rights, the school to prison pipeline, the modern-day incarceration system, and so much more. Orestes and Sethe both had their own ways to stop problems from reoccurring. Looking at our present-day problems, how can we stop systemic oppression, or slow down the spread of Covid-19. How can we put an end to modern injustices? 9/22/2021 0 Comments cassandra The Hero Cassandra was packed with themes of feminism. In the novel, the titular character Cassandra was the god Apollo's priestess. When she did not agree to have sex with him, Apollo cursed her. She can prophesy the future, but no one will believe her. Paris, warrior and Cassandra's brother, stole Helen, a beautiful woman of Sparta, which then sparks the Trojan War in. At the end of the novel, Cassandra forsees the destruction of Troy. Towards the end of the war, Aeneas offers Cassandra to leave Troy with him and to conquer a new land to call home. She chooses not to go, was abducted, and killed in Mycenae. The literary world has been male dominated. In the article MALE LEADS IN FICTION SELL 10 MILLION MORE BOOKS ON AVERAGE THAN FEMALE LEADS, over 70% of best-selling fiction is written by men as of 2020. The author, Christa Wolf, wrote Cassandra after reading Aeschylus' rendition of Cassandra in Oresteia. Not because she felt inspired; she felt like Cassandra was undermined and objectified as an important female character. Wolf related to Cassandra and wanted to humanize her. Both women experienced times of war, and Wolf wanted to draw attention to present day feminist issues that have dated as far back as to the Trojan War. One particular moment that stood out for me was at the end of the narrative: Cassandra choosing not to go with Aeneas when Troy is almost completely destroyed. Cassandra tells Aeneas that she "cannot love a hero" and "does not want to see [him] turned into a statue" (138). In novels written by male, they all follow a structure: a woman in distress, the male character saves her, the town, and is a hero. (Take at John Green's Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns.) The myth and Wolf's novel reject the patriarchy: Cassandra accepts her fate and therefore is her own hero. To be a hero does not mean going out of your way to conquer all or rescue people who may not be saving; I believe being a hero is knowing when the fight no longer has purpose. Cassandra was a priestess for Apollo; when she had the opportunity to commit suicide, she remained strong. Cassandra is her own hero. Here is the link for the article above. 9/12/2021 0 Comments Murder for murder for murder5 year-old Marcela plotting revenge against Snack Thieves, 2008 Throughout Oresteia, this royal family has some serious issues resolving in homicide. It starts off with Agamemnon sacrificing Clytemnestra's daughter Iphigenia to break the curse that was put on his family and for a chance to have victory in the war they were fighting at the time. I believe that's enough killing in one play for me. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Iphigenia's death created a domino effect. Clytemnestra feels betrayed, and therefore kills Agamemnon to avenge her daughter's death. Orestes then decides to murder his mother to avenge his father. I don't believe murder should be avenged by murder. M.K Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind." Instead of eyes, we're talking about lives. A life for a life would leave the world with a population of 0. Personally, this begs the question: how will a death be avenged when the beloved commits suicide? Will there be any vengeance for those lives lost? For revenge purposes, suicide did not happen in Oresteia. Unless I completely missed that, then I apologize. Interestingly, Orestes is the only one taken to a fair trial in front of a judge, an opportunity to represent and defend himself, and 12 of his peers as jury. Before the jurors make their decisions, Athena (left) says that there is no court of vendetta, to exchange a life for a life should not be at the hands of common people. True law will be upheld in court; mercy and punishment will be upheld in court (262-263). A lot of murders could have been avoided if they had followed the justice system. If Clytemnestra were brought to trial for the murder of Agamemnon, or him for the murder of Iphigenia, a lot of problems could have been avoided from the get-go. On the other hand, I would do the same thing. Not the homicide part, but seeking revenge to those who hurt me. When I was a kindergartener, I got ambushed when I went down the slide. One boy was at the top of the slide pulling my ponytail and another one at the exit waiting to steal my Goldfish snacks. I am 18 years old, and seeing those boys walking away, laughing with my snacks still hurts my inner child. I would have loved to steal their animal crackers the next day to get my petty justice. But what would that have solved? I was hurt then, and I would have brought hurt on others. I would have felt a temporarily delight until my teacher calls my mom and tells her about my little act of revenge. I could've held it against them, never play with them during recess or building time in the classroom. But I wasn't an emotionally manipulative five-year-old. Where I failed was when I did not tell the teacher about what they had done to me. Justice would have been served like that. Instead, I sat on it for over 13 years, replaying that incident, imagining how each situation would have turned out in the long run. In other words, I understand the need for justice. I don't think justice should be served by the hands of the person who was hurt. Putting revenge into my toddler hands would only leave me angrier; I was just as upset when there were no consequences for these snack thieves. Having justice be done through the system (in my case, the teacher) would been more rewarding than seeking out revenge against them. In Oresteia, the characters are grown. Grown enough to know what's right and wrong. Grown enough to trust the justice system. |
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