Penelope in Greek and Roman Literature of Classical Period: The Portrayal of Penelope from Homer to Ovid, and Heroides 1

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Penelope in Greek and Roman Literature of Classical Period: The Portrayal of Penelope from Homer to Ovid, and Heroides 1

Journal Title: Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi - Year 2016, Vol 7, Issue 2

Abstract

Penelope had been described by Homer as a chaste wife of Ulysses, who waited for her husband for twenty years with patience and who, while waiting, put off her suitors by trickeries. This figure of Penelope which came from Homeric epic, was first transferred to the Archaic Hellen poem and then to the Latin poem, and the name of Penelope had been served as an exemplum of chastity and loyalty throughout centuries. It can be seen that this tradition was also followed by the Latin elegiac poets of the first century AD; but Ovid, by choosing Penelope as the first writer of his Heroides, gave priority to her feelings and exhibited the fears and anxieties which were existed in this abandoned woman’s inner world. In this study it will be analyzed first how Penelope was portrayed in the Archaic Hellen poem which emerged from Homer, and then in the Latin poem. In accordance with this analysis, the concordance and the difference of Ovid’s Penelope as a letter writer of Heroides with the traditional narrative will be discussed. At the end of the study, the letter (Heroides 1) which is the subject of this discussion will be analyzed in respect to its plot.

Authors and Affiliations

Serap Kalaycıoğulları

Keywords

EP ID EP333835
DOI -
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