Soundtrack for Penelope

In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Penelope is the wife of Odysseus. She is also the queen of Ithica and is left with just her son, Telemachus, after Odysseus is imprisoned by Calypso on her island, Ogygia. Calypso is in love with Odysseus, but Odysseus is eager to return home to his wife, Penelope and his son, Telemachus. Penelope is then left on her island to wait and hope for the return of Odysseus. She is pressured by many of the "suitors" to remarry, but she is trying as hard as she can to deny them, and wait for the return of her husband, who most believe is dead. This shows how loyal and loving she is of Odysseus. She comes up with a plan and says that she will pick a husband only when she finishes weaving a "shroud" for her father-in-law, Laertes, but every day she continues to undo the knitting that she has completed from the previous day. "So by day she'd weave at her great and growing web--by night, by the light of the torches set beside her, she would unravel all she'd done"(2.116-118).

The song "Better Together" by Jack Johnson displays Penelope's feeling for her husband, Odysseus, quite well. In the chours of the song it says, "And sometimes life can be deceiving, I'll tell you one thing, its always better when we're together." The line "sometimes life can be deceiving" relates to Penelope, since the suitors constantly try to deceive her into thinking that Odysseus is dead, when he really isn't. The line "its always better when we're together" relates to Penelope in the sense that she feels comfort and "better" when she is with her husband, Odysseus, and is willing to wait as long as it takes for his return.