Loyalty To Family In Homer's The Odyssey

Words: 278
Pages: 2

Homer uses metaphor and allusion to reveal the theme of importance of loyalty to family. In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, he discusses how loyalty to family is worth the effort put into it. The protagonist, Odysseus, is stranded on Calypso’s island and is presumed dead, so suitors swarm his household in an attempt to gain his wife Penelope’s hand in marriage. In dialogue between Penelope and Antinous, “Wait until I finish this cloth, for I don’t wish to waste all the thread I have spun… there she was all day long, working at the great web.” This metaphor compares Penelope’s tapestry to a spiderweb because they both are used to trick their intended targets. A spiderweb is used to trick and capture a spider’s prey whereas the tapestry is used