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Women In Homer's The Odyssey

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Women In Homer's The Odyssey
In The Odyssey by Homer, three very different women are in love with Odysseus. Circe, Kalypso, and Penelope all love Odysseus in a unique way and show it differently. Circe’s love for Odysseus is based on physical attraction, Odysseus’ accompaniment and body is the premise for Kalypso’s love, while Penelope’s love is the deepest for Odysseus.
Circe’s love for Odysseus is based on physical attraction and is weaker than the others. Circe says, “You are then resourceful Odysseus...Come then, put away your sword in its sheath, and let us two go up into my bed so that, lying together in the bed of love, we may then have faith and trust in each other”(161.330-335). Circe just has a physical relationship with Odysseus and they never truly have a relationship. Even after they just met, Circe wants to be …show more content…
Penelope is completely heart broken when Odysseus leaves and even after twenty years can not get over him. Penelope says to a singer, “...but leave off singing this sad song, which afflicts the dear heart deep inside me, since the unforgettable sorrow comes to me, beyond others, so dear a head do I long for whenever I am reminded of my husband”(36.340-344). Penelope even says that she feels a sorrow beyond any she has felt when she hears the sad songs of her dear husband. Even though she does not know whether he is dead or alive, she still grieves for him and will not move on. Antikleia explains to Odysseus, “All too much with enduring heart she does wait for you there in your own palace, and always with her the wretched nights and the days also waste her away with weeping”(173.181-183). Penelope shows her heartfelt love through her constant grief over Odysseus’s absence. Unlike the other two women, Penelope weeps and laments for Odysseus because her love is so passionate. This is why Penelope’s love is the strongest of the love felt for
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