Penelope's Mouth
"The difficulty is that I have no mouth through which I can speak. I can't make myself understood, not in your world, the world of bodies, of tongues and fingers; and most of the time I have no listeners, not on your side of the river" (4).
Penelope uses visually descriptive language to describe her existence after death. To emphasize the fact that she now exists as a bodiless being, or "shade," in Hades, she uses language concerning the body: "mouth," "bodies," "tongues," and "fingers." These words remind the reader of their own bodies as they read. It also emphasizes Penelope's paradoxical powerlessness: though she has no mouth, she is telling her story from beyond the grave.
Penelope also uses the image of the river above to describe her distance from the reader, who is still in the living world. This is an allusion to the River Styx, which dead souls cross over in order to enter Hades.
The Fall of Troy
"There were reports of a great slaughtering and looting in the city. The streets ran red with blood, the sky above the palace turned to fire" (82).
Penelope uses imagery to set the scene of the fall of Troy. Her descriptive language brings us into the chaos and violence of that moment. The color red is present in this image both in the blood and in the fire in the sky.
Helen's smile
"'It depends on what you call a lot,' said Helen. 'But that's nice. I'm sure you felt more important because of it. Maybe you even felt prettier.' She smiled with her mouth only" (156).
Penelope uses imagery to communicate the unspoken tension between Helen and Penelope in this scene. Though Helen's words are pleasant on the surface, they are in fact meant to hurt Penelope. The fact that she smiles "with her mouth only"—and not with her eyes—shows us the artifice behind Helen's words.
The maids in the afterlife
"We can see through all your disguises: the paths of day, the paths of darkness, whichever paths you take—we're right behind you, following you like a trail of smoke, like a long tail, a tail made of girls, heavy as memory, light as air: twelve accusations, toes skimming the ground, hands tied behind our backs, tongues sticking out, eyes bulging, songs choked in our throats" (192).
In this passage, the twelve maids use imagery to describe the state of their bodies even after death. This imagery makes them easier to visualize, bringing them to the forefront of the reader's mind.
