The story is told in the distinctive, witty and pithy voice of Penelope who speaks to the reader from beyond the grave. Each chapter is interspersed with verse delivered by Penelope’s twelve maids who serve her throughout her husband’s absence and who are cruelly hanged for treachery. The maids part in The Penelopiad is described in the notes as ‘…a tribute to the use of such choruses in Greek drama.’

Penelope begins her tale by degrading her husband’s character; she lets the reader know what is in store for them. This lady is out to set the record straight, while her maids’ jaunty chorus’ fill in the details of Odysseus’s epic.

In Atwood’s tale, Penelope, the daughter of a King of Spatra and a Naiad, a type of Nymph who presides over water, informs the reader that daughters of Naiads “were a dime a dozen… but it never hurts to be of semi-divine birth.’ As a child her father orders Penelope to be thrown into the sea in order to avert the oracle’s prophecy that she would weave his shroud. Perhaps not the best method of assassination for the daughter of a Naiad; Penelope survived. Her mother preferred swimming and cavorting in water to child rearing and it is perhaps this dysfunctional childhood that is responsible for the strength shown in the young Penelope.

But for all Penelope’s strength, throughout her life and her afterlife, she compares herself unfavourably to her beautiful cousin Helen and ponders how Helen escaped punishment for all the grief she caused in her life. Yes the one and only Helen of Troy trails around her celebrity status even into the after world and the bitchiness and rivalry between the two adds a touch of kitsch and spice to the proceedings. Penelope explains how her marriage to Odysseus was arranged and how he cheated in a race to win her after failing to win the hand of Helen, the latter, of course, never misses out on an opportunity to remind Penelope of the deal. But when Odysseus took his new bride and her dowry to his home in Ithaca he soon found her to be charming and quick witted.

From her place in the after world Penelope comments on the changes there since her arrival. Of how in her day the throats of animals would be slit in sacrifice to allow the earth bound to consult with the spirit, she goes on to mock the newer swankier establishment down the road with its fiery pits and gnashing of teeth (Hell). She tells of how magicians now try to contact them, and of their wish to speak only to Helen, who rewards them by traipsing out in her Trojan gown.

Many of the stories in The Odyssey are bent in a new angle by the sly Penelope. Her main role in the original tale centres on the suitors who invade her home and eat their way through her stores and her son’s, Telemachus, inheritance. These suitors want her hand and her gold; after all, no one expects Odysseus to come back, do they? To fend off the suitors she tells them she must weave a shroud for her father in law and will only pick her suitor once the shroud is completed. Each day she weaves and each evening Penelope unpicks the work to ensure the shroud is never finished, thus delaying the day she must choose a suitor. To this day the name of Penelope is linked with faithfulness.

The Penelopiad is more sympathetic towards the maids than The Odyssey, Penelope claims their eventual treachery was her fault; she had sent them to spy on her suitors, to sleep with them and to be raped and betrayed. Her relationship with her son Telemachus is described as being on her terms even though, as a youth, he left without her permission to go to search for her father.

In both versions Odysseus eventually returns to his besieged palace in disguise and expects everyone to believe he is a beggar. Of course in the Penelopiad his wife sees through the disguise and has great fun winding her husband up. The events that follow do mirror the original and it could be debated that even though not stated in the original version, Homer’s Penelope also saw through the disguise.

On his return Odysseus is impressed with his wife faithfulness but angered by the suitors, and with the help of his son and a servant the suitors are slain. Telemachus goes on to hang the maids for their treachery much to Penelope’s horror.

At the end of the novel Atwood introduces a chapter entitled ‘An Anthropology Lecture’ in which the maids try to explain their presence and death in connection with lunar cycles and rituals. As a theory I found this far fetched and contrived, but the author, by giving the maids an apologetic voice seems to agree with me.

Atwood has used her considerable skill to inject modern tone, pace and humour to a difficult but worthwhile epic, bringing new insight and information to the tale. In the Odyssey Penelope was a bit player, in The Penelopiad, Atwood has turned her into a star. My reading of The Odyssey a few years ago added to the enjoyment of The Penelopiad and I would encourage any reader of this adaptation to pick up the Odyssey and experience both sides of the story. If that seems too great a task the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, has a section on Odysseus and Penelope which may enhance the reading.

Moira McPartlin currently lives in Ross-shire, but travels extensively with work. She started writing three years ago to relieve the boredom of airport lounges. She enjoys writing short stories and her passion for mountaineering and travel provides plenty of material for non-fiction articles. Moira has yet to have any work published, but lives in hope. She is currently working on her first novel.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.