Match made in heaven Essay

at that place is nonhing nobler or more admirable than when two people who run across eye to eye keep house as piece of music and wife, discombobulate their enemies and delighting their friends. Homer That bard created much(prenominal) two people in The Odyssey, their contrastive roles concealing the equivalentities in their natures. Both genus genus genus genus Penelope and Odysseus dealt with a world of suffer, but in very different settings she wastes away at fundament, epoch he buttocks a myriad of adventures and sufferings around the Greek world.Although Homer depute them dissimilar parts in his epic, however, his story free reveals striking resemblances betwixt Odysseus and Penelope they possess positive qualities and several faults in common as well as wizard major dissimilarity, all of which are the secrets to their languish and blissful marriage and help them to see eye to eye. One can buoy easily see why Ithacas king and baron re chief(prenominal)ed blithely united for so many another(prenominal) an(prenominal) eld when looking at the twinkling characteristics they share.Both are wondrously loyal, regular when faced with an abundance of temptations. everywhere the course of twenty years, Odysseus knew countless lovely women, from Nausicaa to Calypso, yet he remained stubborn to return to his wife. Likewise, Penelope had her choice of one-hundred and eighty of the best men in Greece all vying for her open, but she still falls to weeping for Odysseus every clock time she thinks of her beloved hubby. Undoubtedly, The Odysseys happy ending could not gift occurred without their unwashed fidelity.Cunning brilliance is the second attribute common to both Odysseus and Penelope, and it served to meet them as much as their reciprocal devotion did. Odysseus is knget as the man of twists and turns, and presumably, he used his acumen to select a wife who could match him in matters of the mind. Being the hero of the story, Ody sseuss brains are flaunted by Homer in his every action, from his escape from the Cyclops to all the creative stories he fabricated. But Penelopes wisdom can too be detected within the text, and is crucial to the biz.For example, take the often-ret experienced story of her web, twine and unwoven to keep the suitors at bay for three years, or when in Book 18, she coyly elicited expensive gifts from apiece suitor to plow for round of her husbands squandered estate. One can in addition adduce the test she devised for the suitors as a confirmation of her sagacity The hand that can string this turn away with the greatest ease he is the man I follow. Penelope knows very well that it is highly unlikely that one of her brazen suitors could muster the strength needed to shoot his polished bow it was just another clever way postpone marriage.Had Penelope not spun out her wiles, much like her husband had done abroad, the lovely queen of Ithaca would probably go been coerced into an unwanted union long before Odysseus returned. non only are the queen and king of Ithaca alike for possessing dominant traits of consignment and astuteness, they also share several shortcomings. Firstly, although they are devoted fair to middling to languish for each other for two decades, neither were one hundred percent loyal to their spouse. Odysseus did not remain faithful to Penelope, sleeping with Circe, then Calypso, and possibly some mortal women unworthy of being mentioned as well.Odysseus claims that he dress with the Circe for the sake of diplomacy, but if so, then why did he stay in her arching caverns for over a year, leaving only at his gangs urging? Homer also hints at Odysseuss voluntary treachery during his seven-year detainment with Calypso, including lines such(prenominal) as they lost themselves in love, and since the nymph no longer delighted. Is the bard implying that the nymph with lovely braids once pleased him, and thus, he willingly copulated wit h her? Penelope, being a woman, could not have had such affaires damour and still be considered loyal.However, because she was only a woman, she still harbored an innate desire to attract men. In Book 18, she fulfilled genus Athenes wish that she should display herself to her suitors, fan their hearts, inflame them more in order to receive the suitors gifts, but perchance also to satisfy her own longing for attention after all, Penelope is a woman whose husband has been gone for more than twenty years. She succeeds in accomplishing both After she descends the stairs, the suitors knees went slack, their hearts dissolved with lust and they showered her with gorgeous presents. Homer seems to take over this fact that Penelope enjoyed the courtship of so many fine, young princes, even though her suitors were a burden and a plague to the household. Book 19 includes a passage describing a dream Penelope had, in which an eagle, which by and by reveals himself as Odysseus, destroys her fl ock of geese by snapping their necks and killing them one and all, the geese obviously symbolise her gaggle of suitors. Penelope is comforted by this dream and seems to hope that it foreshadows approaching events, but also acknowledged that she wept and wailed and was sobbing, stricken at the slaying of her geese.Hence, though Penelope does remain honorable and is faithful to Odysseus during the twenty years when they were apart, she still, perhaps subconsciously, fostered a desire to do otherwise. However, Penelopes slight enkindle in her suitors may not be a have been such a bad thing on the contrary, it could have inspired her to forgive her husband more easily if he ever told her of his dalliances with goddesses. Second, both Odysseus and Penelope are characterized as wary, and although their caution helped them to succeed in many situations, both are overly circumspect at times, causing them to be suspicious of those who love them most.One of the most tense and heartbreaki ng scenes in the book takes place in Book 23, when Penelope is face to face with her devout husband for the first time after twenty years of separation, yet refuses to acknowledge him, prompting Telemachus to reproach What other wife could have a spirit so unbending? Holding back from her husband, home at last for her After restraining twenty years of inhumane struggle- Your heart was always harder than a rock Her son is right, but Penelope still refused to speak to Odysseus, even after Telemachuss rebuking, causing the great-hearted Odysseus to sin up in fury over his wifes distrust.An equivalent incident took place later between Odysseus and his old father. Seeing Laertes in the orchard, Odysseus observed him sitting alone, his heart racked with sorrow, a sight enough to make even long-enduring Odysseus stop to weep. Yet, even so, Odysseus decided to test the old man first, to reproach him with words that cut him to the core. It was wholly unnecessary to operate the loyalty of Laretes, for after all, the man is his father and if that were not enough, Odysseus had heard testimonies to Laretess grief from Eumaeus as well as his own mother in Hades.Odysseuss often-praised caution prompted him to be rather irrational his handling of the situation, presentment a tale that causes his dear father to grieve even more Both hands clawing the ground for dirt and grime, he poured it over his pout head, sobbing, in spasms. His suspicion inflicts unnecessary pain on his father, much as Penelopes caution angered him nevertheless, it is because their minds operate in such a similar fashion that they are able to understand each others rash actions, caused by that extreme wariness which dominates their reasoning.It was because of their faults that Odysseus and Penelope could see eye to eye. But for all their innate likenesses, one main difference remains between the hero and heroine of The Odyssey Odysseus has pride, a kind of potent self-regard that Penelope surel y lacks, for better or for worse. Odysseuss immoderate self-respect gets him into many difficult circumstances his odyssey of misery would not have occurred had he not revealed his identity to the Cyclops because he could not bear being remembered as Nobody.One cannot imagine that Penelope would come ever herself into such a predicament. However, there are some instances during the plot of The Odyssey when Penelope should have displayed more dignity. Several times throughout the story, Telemachus scolds her in a disrespectful manner, telling her to Tend to your Penelopes own tasks, declaring that he holds the reins of baron in this house. Penelope didnt put her teenage son in his proper place, opting instead to meekly withdraw to her own quarters.Had Telemachus spoken similar words to his father, Odysseuss ego certainly wouldnt have allowed such a lack of reverence, and Telemachus most likely would have received some tough love at his hands. Pride is the only significant proper ty between the characters of Odysseus and Penelope, but it is a meaningful difference as well. If Ithacas queen was as self-righteous as its king, one could expect many royal family squabbles instead of the marital bliss they are famed for. Penelope is modest and demure, attributes that are absolutely necessary in order to make it in harmony with a proud man like Odysseus.In conclusion, Odysseus and Penelope are alike in almost every respect, with their unplayful qualities holding them together, their faults leading to understanding, and their one dissimilarity producing compatibility. That is why they were able to crap the strongest kind of love, the love described in I Corinthians 137 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. The Odyssey itself is a testimony to this kind of sequester between husband and wife, a bond forged by harmonious natures, able to survive through twenty years of separation, temptation, and suff ering.