The Perception of Penelope and Clytemnestra

Within the pages of The Odyssey, Queen Penelope is characterized as an infallible woman who naturally and dutifully fulfils her roles as wife and mother. In contrast however, Queen Clytemnestra from The Oresteia is portrayed as a murderous monster that rejects the roles of a proper wife and fit mother. Clytemnestra is judged very harshly thought The Oresteia. While many of the acts she commits are wrong by definition, her actions are more justified then appear at first glance.

The maternal instincts of Penelope are spot on throughout all of the trials and tribulations of The Odyssey. Without the aid of her husband, she was able to raise a strong man who is an honorable and respectful gentleman, who is capable of making wise decisions. Telemakhos, who is still quite young, is well versed in manners and traditions. When her son sails away in search of news of his father, Penelope is grief stricken. Her love for her son is so great that the notion that anything could happen to him literally floors her, "the pain around her heart benumbed her; chairs were a step away, but far beyond her; she sand down to the door sill of the chamber, wailing"(IV 74). Penelope is so upset by this that she needed dreams to be sent from Athena to end her grieving. Before embarking on his journey, the text describes Telemakhos as "Odysseus' true son" with "a god's brilliance upon him" (II 19). Upon his safe return to the kingdom, this otherwise stoic queen shed tears of joy and verbally exploded with statements of love and questions about his journey.

Along with being a good mother, Penelope is a competent and faithful wife. Despite the fact that Odysseus strayed several time, Penelope waited honorably for twenty years for the return of her husband. She has been faithful, but not due to lack of offers, Telemakhos explains, "the lords of the islands...are here courting my mother; and they use our house as if it were a house to plunder" (9). In the end, it was through her devotion that she was able to prove that the man who was able to sting her king's bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe-helve sockets was actually her husband. When he recognized their bridal bed, Penelope did not have any doubt it was Odysseus because "no other man has ever laid eyes on it [the bed]" (436).

Alternatively, Clytemnestra's maternal image is in question throughout The Oresteia. Upon her husbands return from war, she informs him that because of "the likelihood here of popular rising" she sent their son away (27). In fact, she sent him away in order to have a relationship with Aegisthus. Electra, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, feels little compassion for her mother, commenting "Call Clytemnestra, my mother, a woman who loves! I don't have the nerve, the effrontery for that" and "she [Clytemnestra] stifled and smothered all motherly feelings" (51,54).

Clytemnestra also strongly rejects the role of the submissive Greek wife. She was bluntly unfaithful while her husband was away at war. Initially she denies the wrongdoing demanding that Agamemnon be told "he'll find his wife faithful and bond-true as when he first left her" (19). After Agamemnon is murdered Clytemnestra confesses her "hearths kept alight by Aegisthus" (42). Later, still while standing over the fresh corpse of the king, she declares, "I hacked him down and the sword hand strong enough to strike him can dig him a ditch. No mourning. From no-one. All that's forbidden" (44).

The maternal persona of Penelope is never fleeting, while Clytemnestra's image varies greatly. On one hand Clytemnestra exiles her own son and fails to show compassion and love to her older daughter; while she cites the murder of Iphigeneia as the motive for killing her husband. There is little doubt that the murder was motivated by her relationship with Aegisthus, but Clytemnestra took the time to kill Agamemnon in a similar manner as Iphigeneia was killed. The murder is depicted my her in the following statement, "He couldn't get out of his rich, flowing doom-robe. Twice I struck him. He screamed twice, then crumpled" (41). Wrapping Agamemnon in a robe indicates that the murder was actually motivated by the sacrifice of their daughter. In a modern court of law, Clytemnestra would be able to plead insanity rather than confess guilt to charges of first-degree murder based on the platform that she killed the man who murdered her daughter. However, it is quite obvious that she was acting rationally and that her actions were premeditated.

Similar to Odysseus, Agamemnon was not faithful while away at war. He brings home a love slave named Cassandra boasting that she is to be looked after because "this girl's the men's gift to grace their commander" (29). His actions towards Clytemnestra on his homecoming also speak miles. After being away from his wife for a long time, he does not take any time to greet or show affection to his wife. After a speech praising Agamemnon, he jars her with the following statement "your words, like my absence, lasted too long"(28). This exchange indicates that prior to his departure, they probably did not have a great relationship.

The circumstances surrounding the marriage of these two royal couples are very different. Penelope and Odysseus have a happy loving marriage up until the point where Odysseus goes away to war. Upon his return from war they are reunited and after a few stately issues are worked out, their relationship returns to its previous state. Clytemnestra and Agamemnon were separated shortly after Agamemnon sacrificed their youngest child. A woman loses her young daughter and her husband leaves her to go away to war indefinitely. Can she really be faulted for seeking companionship during this difficult time? Clytemnestra characterizes Aegisthus as a "loyal friend always, my shield, my protector"(42). She looked to this man in a time of absolute desperation. Yes, it was adultery, but not innately hedonistic.

When all the actions of Clytemnestra are looked at in isolation she really appears as a horrible, heartless woman. However, when the circumstances surrounding her life are revealed she appears more as a confused and brokenhearted woman. Her thick skin and I'll-get-you-before-you-get-me attitude are defense mechanisms that have surfaced over time rather inborn characteristics. The intentions of Homer and Aeschylus differ in that Aeschylus, as a writer of tragedy, is purposely portraying his character as less cut and dry. He chooses to challenge the reader to make conclusions on characters integrity without making it clear-cut. Penelope, who is portrayed as the ideal, has a much easier life. Penelope's life is black and white, good and bad. Unfortunately, Clytemnestra's life is filled with shades of gray and an ugly mess of problems.

Works Cited

Aeschylus, "The Oresteia." Classical Tragedy Greek and Roman. Ed. Robert W. Corrigan. New York: Applause Theatre Book Publishers, 1990.

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. R Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1998