Presents the cycle of stories about Penelope, wife of Odysseus, through the eyes of the twelve maids hanged for disloyalty to Odysseus in his absence.
Borrowing from Homer, Atwood turns the story of THE ODYSSEY on its head. Told through the eyes of Penelope, Odysseus's faithful wife, THE PENELOPIAD focuses on her life waiting for his return and on the lives of the ill-fated maidens surrounding her. In THE ODYSSEY, Odysseus orders his son to kill not only the suitors who have pursued his wife but also the maidens who slept with them. Atwood departs from Homer's version to give us a more female-centered tale in which Penelope regrets the loss of the maidens, her narrative voice interspersed with the cries of the tortured women. Atwood's version may have altered a classic tale, but in its essence it remains true to the original.
- Genre: Fiction + Literature Themes
- Subgenre: Literary Genres + Types of Novels
- Publisher: Brilliance Audio
- Edition: Unabridged
- Language: English
- Format: audioCD
- Release Date: October 21, 2005
- Date Published: October 21, 2005
- Author: Margaret Atwood, Margaret Eleanor Atwood
- Narrator: Laural Merlington (Narrator)