Penelope is a remarkable and noteworthy character from Greek mythology. She provides a rare example of a strong mortal woman in Greek literature. The Odyssey by Homer is a narrative of Odysseus’ decades-long quest to return home to Ithaca. Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and Odysseus still has not returned to his kingdom in Ithaca. At home, a large mob of 108 suitors overrun Odysseus’s palace and pillaged his land and courted his wife Penelope. In the Odyssey Penelope is portrayed as a devoted wife, weeps and waits for Odysseus. However, she is a complicated woman with a twisted sense of destiny, cleverly misguided the suitors leading with promises but choosing no one. To spare herself from choosing one of the suitors, she insisted that they should wait until the moment she has woven the shroud for Laertes, the father of Odysseus. Each night she unraveled a piece which she had woven within that day.
The conception of this painting started with the theme of love, and how when Penelope can’t fight the physical battle of invaders of her home, she still manages to keep herself, her son, and the kingdom safe, while still holding out hope that her husband will eventually return. The control of color in this painting is used to convey many aspects of hope, love, and deception. Her face is an image of despair, thoughtfulness, wisdom, and intelligence amidst all the chaos of the suitors taking over her kingdom. The black and white represent her coldness towards the suitors, holding out her true “color” while she stays confined to her sadness and depression. In front of her is the light of hope, and behind her is the gloom of the situation as symbolized by the background. While Odysseus sinks deeper and deeper into the inner world of his fantasy, she remains his anchor, that dash of “color” as a beacon for that safe harbor he will reach home one day. Penelope is intimately connected with the cycles of darkness and light, despair and hope, shades of greys and colors. She wears a color headband, a beacon for her husband’s return, a sign of commitment, a promise that won’t die. Her undergarment is red, a passion for Odysseus, while the tunic, the outer garment, is partially color contaminated by the suitors she wishes to shed.
