Topic Sentence
Introduction of Evidence
(Tag,Lead,Citation)
Evidence
Commentary
Summary
BODY PARAGRAPH:
ALL IN SUPPORT OF THESIS STATEMETNT:
Homer spends much of The Odyssey describing the physical power
that men have, but through his examples of the many ways women
weave traps that conquer or test men, Homer provides evidence that
in the poem, Penelope, Queen Arete, and Circe are equally as
powerful as the men within the spheres they are allowed to exist.
BODY PARAGRAPH:
Through her dealings with the suitors, Penelope demonstrates the power of
women to weave deceptive schemes that purposefully utilize men’s chronic
weakness in the face of female wiles. Penelope uses her
understanding of man’s weakness, her femininity, and her
position, to artfully draw out the time that she can avoid
committing to a suitor. During the assembly in Ithaca early in the
poem, Antinous expresses his frustration a her use of feminine wiles,
proclaiming “For three years now, getting on to four, she’s played it
fast and loose with all of our hearts, building each man’s hopes—
dangling promises, dropping hints to each—but all the while with
something else in mind” (Homer 2.95-100). Penelope understands
that the longer Odysseus is gone, the more insistent the suitors will
become, so she uses her charms to draw out the process as long as
possible by “weaving” a spell on the suitors. It is notable that it is
Antinous, a man, who admits that she tricks the men for fours years,
and his anger at the trick enhances Penelope’s power over them.
Understanding the limited power she has to assert herself directly,
she indirectly weaves illusions in the men’s heads that extend her
ability to stay true to her husband. As Odysseus’ death becomes
certain in the suitor’s eyes, and Penelope becomes more of a
prize in theirs, she hatches a plan that involves the physical act
of weaving. Once she and Odysseus are finally reunited, she tells
him of her tricks, relating, “By day I’d weave at my great and growing
web—by night, by the torches set beside me, would unravel all I’d
done. Three whole years I deceived them blind, seduced them with
this scheme” (Homer 19.167-170). This example of literal weaving
only enhances the skill that Penelope has to ensnare men in her
“mental weavings”. By creating a situation that the suitors cannot
argue with ethically, weaving a shroud to honor her father-in-law
Laertes, Penelope buys herself three years. Penelope understands
the power that honoring elders, specifically elder males, has in Greek
society. As a woman, Penelope uses her power to play on this
tradition, and on male ego, in order to prolong her own life as
Odysseus’ wife.