Penelope's Marriage (Simile)
"And so I was handed over to Odysseus, like a package of meat. A package of meat in a wrapping of gold, mind you" (39).
In this simile, Penelope describes her marriage as being like an economic transaction in which she is treated as a (highly valuable) object. This simile illustrates the social world of ancient Greece, in which women had little power. Women of all social classes inspired sexual desires in men; however, they carried shame if men exerted those desires upon them. Noble women, like Penelope, were seen as important for marriage and birthing sons, so that the kingdom's wealth could be passed down the lineage.
Penelope in Ithaca (Simile)
"I felt like a prize horse on parade, walking in my fancy robes while sailors stared at me and townswomen whispered" (72).
Above, Penelope compares herself to a "prize horse" when she is walking around Ithaca. She has a very high status as Odysseus's wife and is an outsider. This makes her more visible to the general public. In this simile, Penelope is emphasizing how lonely she feels in this strange land, where people see her less as a person and more as a spectacle. This simile also separates Penelope from the "sailors" and the "townswomen," emphasizing that she is of a different class than these groups of people and that therefore her life is very different from theirs.
The Suitors (Simile)
"They were like vultures when they spot a dead cow: one drops, then another, until finally every vulture for miles is tearing up the carcass" (103).
In this simile, Penelope compares the suitors' arrival in Ithaca to vultures closing in on a cow carcass. This simile shows the bloodthirstiness the suitors display upon their arrival to Ithaca. Penelope is forced to welcome them, feed them, and house them under the customs of hospitality. They, in return, take advantage of those hospitality customs and take advantage of their host.
Penelope's use of "vultures" in this simile evokes the threat that the suitors pose to the kingdom. If they succeed in seducing Penelope, then Ithaca's fortunes would be lost to a foreigner. Further, Penelope's life would be at risk with her new husband, who would consider killing her off to keep the kingdom for himself and marry a younger bride. Even worse, Penelope would surely have been murdered by Odysseus upon his return, when saw that she had betrayed him. Like vultures, the suitors are circling at the precipice of disaster, and it takes all of Penelope's wit to keep them at bay.
The Suitors' Appetite (Simile)
"Each one ate as if to outdo all the others at eating—their goal was to wear down my resistance with the threat of impoverishment, so mountains of meat and hillocks of bread and rivers of wine vanished down their throats as if the earth had opened and swallowed everything down" (104).
In this simile, Penelope compares the suitors' consumption of Ithaca's livestock and food to an apocalyptic scene. This simile is full of imagery as she likens food to landscapes: "mountains of meat and hillocks of bread and rivers of wine." This language emphasizes the sheer amount of food and wine that the suitors consume. On another level, it also underscores just how important these rations are to Ithaca—part of the suitors' strategy is to threaten Penelope with impoverishment, which is a realistic possibility. The terror of the earth cracking open to swallow up everything it can also communicates Penelope's fear. Despite the fact that the tone of this simile is witty and ironic, this is a moment in the Penelopiad when Penelope's livelihood, home, and life are truly at risk.
The maids' address to Odysseus (Simile)
"You roped us in, you strung us up, you left us dangling like clothes on a line" (192).
In this simile, the maids compare their violent death by hanging to the process of hanging "clothes on a line." This simile is effective because it offers the reader a visual image of the maids' death. It also emphasizes the active role of Telemachus (as directed by Odysseus) in their deaths: "you" actively "roped," "strung," and "left" the maids. This simile also objectifies the maids by comparing them to clothing, which illustrates their dehumanization within the world of the novel. Finally, the action performed in this simile—hanging washed clothes to dry—is a household chore that the maids would have performed during their lives. In this way, the simile implies that their very status and position within the palace are what led to their deaths.
