Charles Frazier’s novel, Cold Mountain, has been considered a latter-day Odyssey ever since its appearance in 1997. Many of the characters in the two novels are similar to each other in their traits, responsibilities, and roles, such as Ada Monroe and Ruby Thewes compared to Penelope and Athena, correspondingly. Ada continuously receives assistance from Ruby as her father, Monroe, has passed away, while Penelope is supported by Athena as she awaits for Odysseus to return. Between the Odyssey and Cold Mountain, the characters Ada Monroe and Penelope, as well as Ruby Thewes and Athena, are portrayed as equivalent characters in their respective stories. Both of Ada Monroe and Penelope share similar roles and situations in their respective stories. Ada is the female protagonist and lover of Inman, the male…show more content… Ada was “in need of help,” as her father had recently died, leaving her penniless and in charge of a farm. Ada then joins forces with Ruby on an “order of equality,” under which “everybody empties their own night jar.” However, Ada begins to heavily rely on Ruby, who helps her achieve self-sufficiency at home independent of her lover. This relationship is similar to Athena’s connection with Penelope, as Penelope spends her days in her palace pining for Odysseus, who left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned, Athena offers support. Athena is the Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. In Ruby’s case, although uneducated and illiterate, she possesses a store of knowledge about the natural world that she gleaned while younger, when her father, Stobrod Thewes, would leave her for weeks at a time to go drinking. Using their traits and responsibilities as support characters, they both help the female protagonists of their particular stories who are undergoing a time of
