Re:Translator's Note to the Odyssey
by AnimalMuppet on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @12:00AM
(#15650005)
> The 'unfaithful' female servants who slept with Penelope's suitors were summarily and cruelly executed.
In fairness, so were the suitors.
(Though, also in fairness, not for sleeping with the servants.)
Both true, but in practice and looking at history, not just today, there have been few women authors and far more expectation for women to be faithful (and chaste). The prodigal son's return is a celebration, but a prodigal daughter?
Look at Odysseus and Penelope: One roamed for 10 years, sleeping with sea nymphs and witches, and was celebrated for his genius and courage; the other was expected to wait faithfully - your spouse leaves for 20 years (including the war), you have no idea if they are alive and have no sign from them at all, and you just sit there waiting for their hoped-for return, spending 20 years of your life weaving and unweaving a veil - and she was celebrated for that.
The 'unfaithful' female servants who slept with Penelope's suitors were summarily and cruelly executed.