Putting an End to Song: Penelope, Odysseus and the Teleologies of the Odyssey

Abstract

Book 1 of the Odyssey presents us with the first bard-figure of the poem, singing what in many ways is an analogue to the Odyssey with “the return of the Greeks”; yet when Penelope appears, it is to attempt to put an end to his song. I use this scene as a starting point to suggest that Penelope is deeply implicated in narrative endings in the Odyssey. Looking at the end or τέλος of the poem through a systematic study of its “closural allusions,” I argue that a teleological analysis of Penelope’s character in relation to endings may both resolve some of the issues in her interpretation thus far, and open up new avenues for the reading of the Odyssey as a poem informed by endings.