The Penelopiad

by Margaret Atwood · 2005

Margaret Atwood reimagines the classic myth of Penelope, wife of Odysc​us, in The Penelopiad. Told from Penelope’s own voice and the haunting chorus of the twelve maids she was forced to hang, the novel uncovers the hidden politics, rumors, and betrayals that lie beneath Homer’s celebrated Odyssey. Drawing on lesser‑known oral traditions and ancient gossip, Atwood gives Penelope agency, humor, and a sharp wit as she confronts the suitors, the gods, and the legacy of a story that has long silenced women’s perspectives. The result is a witty, incisive retelling that asks what really happened while Odysseus was away, and why the maids’ fates were sealed, offering a fresh, feminist chorus to an age‑old epic.