Edith Hall - The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer's Odyssey

 Hall, E. (2008). The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer's Odyssey. Johns Hopkins University Press.


Edith Hall’s book tracks the influence of the ideas of the Odyssey on a range of institutions and practices in the Arts. In addressing the writings of the female characters from the epic, she notes that the important ideas in the most recent writings are ‘private space, weaving and quest’ (p. 121-2). She cites the importance of Carolyn Heilbrun’s What Was Penelope Unweaving? (Heilbrun, 1990). Heilbrun’s essay proposes Penelope’s weaving and unweaving as drafting possible futures for her story.  Hall and Heilbrun encourage women to write their own stories using their own forms. Together, both writers encourage others to challenge the narratives by creating new fictions for themselves. Penelope thus becomes an emblem of this feminist project.  

Hall’s observed threads of ‘private space, weaving and quest’ are worth considering in other rewritings.

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