The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood - Canongate Canons - Fiction - Paperback Edition

Details. Condition: BRAND NEW. Format: Paperback. ISBN: 9781786892485. Publisher: Canongate (Canons). Age Range: Adult. Overview. A sharp, witty retelling of Homer's Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus's long-suffering wife. Stuck in the underworld for millennia, Penelope finally sets the record straight on the myths told about her "fidelity" and the brutal fate of her twelve maids. Margaret Atwood turns an ancient legend inside out, giving voice to the women history silenced. Funny, feminist and devastating by turns, this slim modern classic rewards both newcomers to Greek myth and devoted Atwood readers alike.. About the Book. Immortalised for three thousand years as the devoted, patient wife who wove and unpicked her burial shroud while waiting for Odysseus to come home, Penelope has always been a symbol of quiet virtue. In The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood lets her speak for herself at last. Wandering the underworld in the present day, Penelope looks back on her marriage, her cunning cousin Helen of Troy, and the real story behind the slaughter of her twelve maids on Odysseus's return — a detail Homer brushes past in a few lines, but which haunts Penelope for eternity.. Told with Atwood's trademark wit and wickedly sharp prose, the novella interweaves Penelope's first-person narrative with a Greek-chorus commentary from the murdered maids, who demand their own version of events be heard. The result is a dark, playful and deeply feminist reimagining that quest...