From the Publisher
The internationally acclaimed Myths series brings together some
of the finest writers of our time to provide a contemporary take on
some of our most enduring stories. Here, the timeless and universal
tales that reflect and shape our lives-mirroring our fears and
desires, helping us make sense of the world-are revisited, updated,
and made new.
Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad is a sharp,
brilliant and tender revision of a story at the heart of our
culture: the myths about Penelope and Odysseus. In Homer's
familiar version, The Odyssey, Penelope
is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife. Left alone for
twenty years when Odysseus goes to fight in the Trojan Wars, she
manages to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca, bring up her wayward son
and, in the face of scandalous rumours, keep over a hundred suitors
at bay. When Odysseus finally comes home after enduring hardships,
overcoming monsters and sleeping with goddesses, he kills
Penelope's suitors and-curiously-twelve of her maids.
In Homer the hanging of the maids merits only a fleeting though
poignant mention, but Atwood comments in her introduction that she
has always been haunted by those deaths. The
Penelopiad, she adds, begins with two questions:
what led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really
up to? In the book, these subjects are explored by Penelope
herself-telling the story from Hades - the Greek afterworld
- in wry, sometimes acid tones. But Penelope's
maids also figure as a singing and dancing chorus (and chorus
line), commenting on the action in poems, songs,
an anthropology lecture and even a videotaped trial.
The Penelopiad does several dazzling things at once.
First, it delves into a moment of casual brutality and reveals all
that the act contains: a practice of sexual violence and gender
prejudice our society has not outgrown. But it is also a daring
interrogation of Homer's poem, and its counter-narratives - which
draw on mythic material not used by Homer -
cleverly unbalance the original. This is the case throughout, from
the unsettling questions that drive Penelope's tale forward, to
more comic doubts about some of The Odyssey's most
famous episodes. ("Odysseus had been in a fight with a giant
one-eyed Cyclops, said some; no, it was only a one-eyed tavern
keeper, said another, and the fight was over non-payment of the
bill.")
In fact, The Penelopiad weaves and
unweaves the texture of The Odyssey in
several searching ways. The Odyssey was
originally a set of songs, for example; the new version's ballads
and idylls complement and clash with the original. Thinking more
about theme, the maids' voices add a new and unsettling complex of
emotions that is missing from Homer. The
Penelopiad takes what was marginal and brings it
to the centre, where one can see its full complexity.
The same goes for its heroine. Penelope is an important figure in
our literary culture, but we have seldom heard her speak for
herself. Her sometimes scathing comments in The
Penelopiad (about her cousin, Helen of Troy, for example)
make us think of Penelope differently - and the way she talks about
the twenty-first century, which she observes from Hades, makes us
see ourselves anew too.
Margaret Atwood is an astonishing storyteller, and The
Penelopiad is, most of all, a haunting and deeply
entertaining story. This book plumbs murder and memory, guilt and
deceit, in a wise and passionate manner. At time hilarious and at
times deeply thought-provoking, it is very much a Myth for our
times.
From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939, and
grew up in northern Quebec and Ontario, and later in Toronto. She
has lived in numerous cities in Canada, the U.S., and Europe.
She is the author of more than forty books - novels, short stories,
poetry, literary criticism, social history, and books for children.
Atwood's work is acclaimed internationally and has been published
around the world. Her novels include The Handmaid's Tale
and Cat's Eye - both shortlisted for the Booker Prize;
The Robber Bride, winner of the Trillium Book Award and a
finalist for the Governor General's Award; Alias Grace,
winner of the prestigious Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio
Mondello in Italy, and a finalist for the Governor General's Award,
the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize, and the International IMPAC
Dublin Literary Award; The Blind Assassin, winner of the
Booker Prize and a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin
Literary Award; and Oryx and Crake, a finalist for The
Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award, the Orange Prize, and
the Man Booker Prize. Her most recent books of fiction are The
Penelopiad, The Tent, and Moral Disorder.
She is the recipient of numerous honours, such as The Sunday
Times Award for Literary Excellence in the U.K., the National
Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature in the U.S., Le Chevalier
dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and she was the
first winner of the London Literary Prize. She has received
honorary degrees from universities across Canada, and one from
Oxford University in England.
Margaret Atwood lives in Toronto with novelist Graeme Gibson.
From the Hardcover edition.