Autodiegesis and Relationality: Tracing Penelope in Margaret Atwood, Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes

Abstract

First given literary form in Homer’s Odyssey, Penelope has long embodied the ideal of a prudent, cautious, patient and faithful woman: the perfect wife. However, the incorporation of gender perspectives into literature and classical reception studies has recently contested this characterisation, reinterpreting her story and granting her a more prominent voice—one that is even critical of her own narrative. Three central examples can be found in recent Anglophone fiction: Margaret Atwood’s 'The Penelopiad' (2005), Madeline Miller’s Circe (2018) and Natalie Haynes’ 'A Thousand Ships' (2019). This chapter explores how these retellings present Penelope as a woman who reflects on her own story, both through her recollection and experience of the events of her life and through her relationships with other characters. In doing so, both autodiegesis and relationality emerge as central dimensions of her fulfilment, underlining the possibilities of female agency. Together, these narratives construct a Penelope that challenges the contours of her personal myth and engages with contemporary gender debates.