Penelope has undergone many transformations in her three-thousand-year life since Homer crafted her. The centuries have mercilessly fluctuated her in their stock market of values. Sometimes a paragon of virtue, other times a very dull spouse, the "guard dog" of virtue, occasionally dangerous and lustful, at times elderly and silent, or young and dynamic, Penelope, the average woman, reveals through her adventures the status of the female gender in society and the perceptions surrounding marriage and love.
At times she completely disappears from the pages of literature, while at other times she makes a timid, miserable appearance. However, the 20th century is her century: many pages were dedicated to her "scandals" in the interwar period, and there were many attempts to give her a better fate in life, both from women and men. She achieves great glory after 1968 and the collective mobilization for changing attitudes and relationships between the genders.
Writers, usually women, now believe that she has the right to rebuild her life, no longer waiting twenty years for Odysseus, refusing to take back the unfaithful husband, even committing infidelity herself, or simply remaining alone and dedicating herself to art. By the end of the 20th century, Penelope travels; the stationary figure of the loom conquers the possibility of knowing the world or at least escaping the hardships of Ithaca.
In the 21st century, her maids now occupy literature as well. Readers will find these and other transformations of Penelope in this book, in works of prose, poetry, theater, some cinematic, as well as essays and philosophy, from Greece, Europe, and America. A story about the status of women in society, through images and symbols. When will Penelope truly manage to speak in the public sphere, achieving full equality with Odysseus?
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