deceptions, in which they cannot reveal their
true feelings or the reasons for their grief.
They weep when no one is looking, for fear of
being discovered.
Style
Classical Myth Motif
Millay studied Greek and Latin literature at Vas-
sar and was attracted to it all her life. Like other
twentieth-century poets, Millay at times uses clas-
sical myth as a motif, or central metaphor, to
make a point. In ‘‘An Ancient Gesture,’’ she
compares the speaker’s situation to the Greek
story of Penelope and Ulysses, the queen and
king of Ithaca, as from Homer’s epic theOdyssey.
This story recounts the years during which
Ulysses wanders after the Trojan War, trying to
get home to his family on the island of Ithaca.
While Ulysses encounters all kinds of obstacles
between Troy and Ithaca—supernatural forces,
monsters, witches, and a trip to the underworld—
Penelope has to deal courageously with obstacles
at home, such as the aggressive suitors. In Hom-
er’s version of the story, the emphasis is on the
adventures of the warrior, Ulysses, and his men
in their ship, recounting all the wonders of the
world they see. Ulysses is always homesick, and
even in the arms of enchantresses and goddesses,
he misses his wife. To the ancient Greeks, Pene-
lope and Ulysses represented the perfect, harmo-
nious married couple.
Penelope is indeed the archetype of the faithful
wife in Homer’s epic, praised by the ghost of Aga-
memnon in the underworld, for instance, as the
opposite of his own murdering wife, Clytemnestra.Illustration of Penelope at her loom(ÓBettmann / CORBIS)
An Ancient Gesture