The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus (Canongate Myths) Book

In Homer's "Odyssey" Penelope - wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy - is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the abduction of Helen Penelope manages in the face of scandalous rumours to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca bring up her wayward son and keep over a hundred suitors at bay. When Odysseus finally comes home after enduring hardships overcoming monsters and sleeping with goddesses he kills her suitors and - curiously - twelve of her maids. In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids asking: 'What led to the hanging of the maids and what was Penelope really up to?' In Atwood's dazzling playful retelling the story becomes as wise and compassionate as it is haunting and as wildly entertaining as it is disturbing.With wit and verve drawing on the storytelling and poetic talent for which she herself is renowned she gives Penelope new life and reality - and sets out to provide an answer to an ancient mystery.