Female Ethics and Epic Rivalry: Helen in the Iliad and Penelope in the Odyssey

This paper shows how Penelope and the Iliadic Helen are constructed as similar, yet ethically antitypical heroines through an intertextual dialogue that manifests itself on structural, thematic, and linguistic levels. Whereas Helen is an unfaithful, sight-endowed female agent who weaves war and indi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican journal of philology Vol. 140; no. 2; pp. 189 - 226
Main Author Lesser, Rachel H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press 2019
Subjects
Competition
Epic literature
Ethics
Females
Greek literature
Heroism & heroes
Ideology
Intertextuality
Poetry
Singers
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Summary:This paper shows how Penelope and the Iliadic Helen are constructed as similar, yet ethically antitypical heroines through an intertextual dialogue that manifests itself on structural, thematic, and linguistic levels. Whereas Helen is an unfaithful, sight-endowed female agent who weaves war and indiscriminate suffering, Penelope is a faithful, thoughtful wife who more passively preserves Odysseus' family and authority; each woman is key to her epic plot and ideology. I argue that their intertextuality contributes to the rivalry between the Odyssey and Iliad traditions and can be understood as a female counterpart to the competing heroisms of Odysseus and Achilles.
ISSN:0002-9475
1086-3168
1086-3168
DOI:10.1353/ajp.2019.0013