Kazantzakis and the Penelopes

Abstract

The analysis of Kazantzakis' treatment of female characters in his work does not reveal a positive attitude towards them. In Penelope's case, the appearances of Ulysses' famous wife are clearly negative. In Broken Souls, 1908, a youth work, Penelope is not a character of the work itself, but is seen in a picture by Gustave Moreau. She is described as she appears in the painting, i.e. as an immoral and lecherous being. In the dramatic work Odysseus, 1922, the old Penelope decides to marry, allegedly under orders from Aphrodite. However, the truth is that she is disguising her own desire, which is focused on the beautiful suitor Eurimachus, as if it were an act of obedience to the goddess. She is not portrayed as a faithful and truthful woman. In the Odyssey, 1924-1938, the dark image of an already faded and timorous woman contrasts with that of the husband, who arrives strong, graceful and triumphant. The woman, who does not act nor speak, but only cries, shows also a contrast to the female images of the time at which the poem was written, a time of great advacne to equality for women.