on his long journey home from the war. In Hom-
er’s version, he was tested, attacked, and impris-
oned and eventually lost all his men before
arriving home alone. The emphasis in this poem,
however, is on Penelope’s grief, which seems more
genuine than her husband’s in Millay’s version of
the story. Penelope’s grief was so deep, it gave rise
to the original gesture of wiping away the tears.
Endurance
Millay’s poem captures the moment when holding
on to something for a long time has led to exhaus-
tion that gives way to letting go and weeping from
frustration and helplessness. The weeping does
not indicate ultimate defeat, however, for Pene-
lope and the speaker wipe their tears away, indi-
cating a readiness to resume their labors after the
momentary breaking down.
Penelope’s act of holding off the suitors until
her husband’s return has always been considered
an act of extreme loyalty and virtue. It indicates
the love she has not only for her husband and her
son but also for her country. She is the queen who
must care for everyone. The greedy suitors are
only interested in the wealth, prestige, and power
of the throne. They try to destroy the integrity of
Ithaca. Penelope’s courage and faith are indi-
cated in the fact that she has wept more than
once. She has upheld the house of Ithaca without
relief for twenty years in the absence of Ulysses,
but she has endured, even with an aching body
and heart and constant threats. A weak person
would have given in. Penelope is clever and
resourceful and finds a way to manage an impos-
sible situation. The speaker’s implied comparison
of her endurance to Penelope’s suggests a trial of
long standing, with no help or understanding
available.
Ulysses, too, is a symbol of endurance, for he
had to suffer first war, then the terrible journey
home. It helps the speaker of the poem to think of
this ancient story of hardship, to know that in
giving way under unbearable stress she is pre-
ceded by great classical figures. The poem does
not remind us of the happy ending of the tale,
however, when Ulysses and Penelope are reunited
thanks to their mutual determination to endure.
The poem deals instead with the woman’s doubt
while waiting and the cost of her heroic endur-
ance. As with the theme of grief, the poet puts
emphasis on Penelope’s acts of faith as the more
important ones. If she had not found a way to
keep Ithaca intact, Ulysses would have returned
to nothing. The implication is that women are the
unsung heroes of the world, absorbing in their
very bodies the strain that men have created for
them, perhaps unnecessarily, through ambition
and conflicts.Role of Women
Millay highlights the woman’s role in maintain-
ing order and continuity in society. Penelope is
not the faithful sidekick in this version of the
story but the true hero, whom Ulysses copies.
This role reversal is revealed in the second stanza
when the speaker contrasts the tears of husband
and wife. Penelope’s tears are shed in secret, for
she has to be strong in public. Ulysses uses his
tears before an audience to create an effect. She
originates the gesture; he appropriates it.
In Homer’s version of the story, Ulysses has
the reputation of being a man of disguise. He not
only is a strong warrior but also is endowed with
cleverness, his main weapon in a tight spot. He
often acts a part, as when he pretends to be a
beggar after he gets home to test his wife’s loy-
alty. In theIliad, Homer’s story about the Trojan
War, Ulysses pretends to be mad to avoid having
to fight. The speaker of Millay’s poem probably
remembers this fact about Ulysses and assumes
that he learned the effect of tears from Penelope,
how they could sway someone to pity. In the
country of the Phaeacians, Ulysses makes sure
he is seen weeping while hearing a song about the
Trojan War to move his hosts to grant his request
for passage home on one of their ships.
Millay’s speaker intuitively feels that Pene-
lope was the source of Ulysses’ strength and wis-
dom, for she herself has felt what Penelope did.
She, too, has wept with an unendurable burden
to bear. Penelope and women in general, she
suggests, are forced into being secret heroes with-
out the recognition and reward that Ulysses and
men in general gain. Their tears are not feigned.
They come from genuine grief and frustration.
Another image of women’s work in the poem
is the loom, where weaving and unweaving leave
Penelope exhausted. Her work, perhaps like the
housewife’s, feels meaningless and never com-
pleted. There is no satisfaction, no relief. The
loom symbolizes the kind of invisible work of
women that upholds family and country. It is
hard and repetitive and unrewarding. It is also
deceptive. Penelope’s deception in her weaving
could be compared and contrasted to her hus-
band’s deceptions. Women’s entire lives may beAn Ancient Gesture