This book is perfect for readers who enjoy a unique and critical perspective on classic stories. Atwood's witty and wise writing style brings new life to the often-overlooked female characters in Greek mythology. The Penelopiad sheds light on the silenced voices in Homer's Odyssey and gives agency to Penelope and her maids.

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As portrayed in Homer's 'Odyssey', Penelope - wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy - has become a symbol of wifely duty and devotion, enduring twenty years of waiting when her husband goes to fight in the Trojan War. As she fends off the attentions of a hundred greedy suitors, travelling minstrels regale her with news of Odysseus' epic adventures around the Mediterranean - slaying monsters and grappling with amorous goddesses. When Odysseus finally comes home, he kills her suitors and then, in an act that served as little more than a footnote in Homer's original story, ruthlessly hangs Penelope's twelve maids.

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