CONNECT!

1. Why do you think history is called “history”

instead of “herstory”? What does this reveal
about the roots of history?
2. Do you think women’s voices, and their
perspectives, have been heard and
chronicled as faithfully as men’s
perspectives? Why do you think so?
3. What is the importance of female
perspective?
 VIEW IT!
Watch the video at
https://youtu.be/uTF1hG2UBrM.
Answer these questions:
1. What are the themes of the epic?
2. How would you describe Odysseus’s
character?
3. If you had a choice, would you want to be
Odysseus or Penelope? Explain your
answer.
DEFINE IT!
bard
THIS IS THE MEANING!
bard- a tribal poet-singer skilled
in composing and reciting
Verses on heroes and their deeds; a
composer, singer, or declaimer of
epic or heroic verse
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bard)
improvisation
THIS IS THE MEANING!
improvisation-a performance
that an actor, musician, etc.
has not practiced or planned; the
act of making or doing something
with whatever is available at the
time
(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/improvisation)
fanciful
THIS IS THE MEANING!
fanciful-not based on fact; dubious or
imaginary fanciful notions; made or
designed in a curious, intricate, or
imaginative way; indulging in or
influenced by fancy; whimsical
(https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/fanciful)
preceding
THIS IS THE MEANING!
preceding- to go before, as in
place, order, rank, importance, or
time
(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/precede)
factoid
THIS IS THE MEANING!
factoid-a small bit of information,
or an idea that seems like a fact
and has been repeated often
but may not actually be true
(https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/factoid)
eminent
THIS IS THE MEANING!
eminent- high in station,
rank, or repute; prominent;
distinguished
(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/eminent)
plausible
THIS IS THE MEANING!
plausible-superficially fair,
reasonable, or valuable but often
specious; superficially pleasing or
persuasive; appearing worthy of
belief
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plausible )
compulsion
THIS IS THE MEANING!
compulsion-a very strong
feeling of wanting to do
something repeatedly that is
difficult to control
(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/compulsion)
inkling
THIS IS THE MEANING!
inkling-a feeling that
something is true or likely to
happen, although you are not
certain
(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/inkling)
preposterous
THIS IS THE MEANING!
preposterous-completely
contrary to nature,
reason, or common sense;
utterly foolish; absurd;
senseless
(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/preposterous)
LOOK BACK!

“The bards related stories and epic

songs about myths to the general
populace. They recited and sang
these stories, which were subject to
slight changes and improvisations
during the course of the delivery.
This device often resulted in
elements being repeated in various
places. Certainly the Homeric
poems are fanciful in many ways, as
they are works of literature (Bryce,
1998:394). However, they also
contain historical aspects.
The myths in the epics comprised
all knowledge about heroes and
gods from previous age: an age
both mythical and remote (Lang,
1906:84). Homer in particular, is
looking back to a preceding age
(Nilsson, 1968:1)
Persons living at the time of
the bards (and Homer as well)
believed the myths to be true.
They apportioned them the
value of history. These stories
were events that took place in
the past.”
In short, one of the oldest
epics in the world is
considered as both history and
literature. How does this
change the way you look at
history?
The story you are about to
read is part of a retelling of
The Odyssey from Penelope’s
perspective, which gives us a
different take on the epic and
reveals gender stereotypes
found in Homer’s The Odyssey.
 A
Low Art
Except from The
Penelopiad
By Margaret Atwood
(Canada)
 Now that I’m dead I know
everything. This is what I
wished would happen, but like
so many of my wishes it failed
to come true.
I know only a few factoids
that I didn’t know before.
Death is much too high a
price to pay for the
satisfaction of curiosity,
needless to say.
 Since being dead – since
achieving this state of
bonelessness, liplessness,
breastlessness – I’ve learned some
things I would rather not know, as
one does when listening at
windows or opening other
people’s letters.
You think you’d like to read
minds? Think again.
 Down here everyone arrives with
a sack, like the sacks used to keep
the winds in, but each of these
sacks is full of words – words
you’ve spoken, words you’ve
heard, words that have been said
about you.
Some sacks are very small,
others large; my own is of a
reasonable size, though a
lot of the words in it
concern my eminent
husband.
What a fool he made of me,
some say. It was a specialty
of his: making fools. He got
away with everything,
which was another of his
specialties: getting away.
 He was always so
plausible. Many people have
believed that his version of
events was the true one, give
or take a few murders, a few
beautiful seductresses, a few
one-eyed monsters.
Even I believed in
him, from time to
time.
I knew he was tricky and
a liar, I just didn’t think
he would play his tricks
and try out his lies on me.
Hadn’t I been faithful?
Hadn’t I waited, and
waited, and waited,
despite the temptation –
almost the compulsion –
to do otherwise?
And what did I amount to,
once the official version
gained ground? An edifying
legend. A stick used to beat
other women with.
Why couldn’t they be
considerate, as trustworthy,
as all-suffering as I had
been?
That was the line they took, the
singers, the yarn-spinners.
Don’t follow my example, I
want to scream in your eyes-
yes, yours! I try to scream, I
sound like an owl.
Of course I had inklings, about
his slipperiness, his wiliness,
his foxiness, his- how can I put
this? – his unscrupulousness,
but I turned a blind eye. I kept
my mouth shut; or if I opened
it, I sang his praises.
I didn’t contradict, I didn’t ask
awkward questions, I didn’t dig
deep. I wanted happy endings in
those days, and happy endings
are best achieved by keeping the
right doors locked and going to
sleep during the rampages.
 But after the main events were
over and things had become less
legendary, I realized how many
people were laughing at me behind
my back – how they were jerking,
making jokes about me, jokes both
clean and dirty;
how they were turning me
into a story, or into several
stories, though not the kind
of stories I’d prefer to hear
about myself.
What can a woman do when
scandalous gossip travels
the world? If she defends
herself she sounds guilty.
So I waited some more.
 Now that all the others
have run out of air, it’s my
turn to do a little story-
making. I owe it to myself.
I’ve had to work myself up
to it: it’s a low art, tale-
telling.
Old women go for it,
strolling beggars, blind
singers, maidservants,
children – folks with time on
their hands.
Once, people would have
laughed if I’d tried to play the
minstrel – there’s nothing more
preposterous than an
aristocrat fumbling around
with the arts – but who cares
about public opinion now?
The opinion of the people
down here: the opinions of
shadow, of shadows, of
echoes. So I’ll spin a thread
of my own.
LET’S EXPOUND!
1. Why does Penelope consider
storytelling “a low art”?
2. How does Penelope’s portrayal
differ from the traditional portrayal
of Odysseus? What do you think of
Odysseus?
3. Based on Penelope’s perspective,
how is she different from how the
epic portrays her? What do you think
of Penelope’s character in the
preceding story?
4. What does she have to say about
the “official version” of what
happened? Why does she point this
out?
5. Why does she call herself “a
stick used to beat other women
with”? Do you agree with her?
6. Why does Penelope say that she
“sounds like an owl” when she
tries to warn other women?
7. How much of ancient history
do you think is based on fact,
and how much on gossip or
exaggeration?
8. Do you think a story is
colored by the biases of the
storyteller?
9. Do you think history is
colored by the biases of the
historian?
10. Does this story change the
way you look at literature and
history? Why or why not?
KNOW IT!

What is historiographic
metafiction?
As elaborated by Linda Hutcheon (1988)
in the article “Historiographic
Metafiction: The Pastime of Past Time”

•History and literature were once

considered branches of the same
tree of learning, a tree which sought
to “interpret experience, for the
purpose of guiding and elevating
man.”
As elaborated by Linda Hutcheon (1988) in the
article “Historiographic Metafiction: The
Pastime of Past Time”
•With the use of this narrative
strategy, literature has found a way
to interrogate history and to reveal
marginal voices to compete with the
authoritative versions that come from
the history books and what could be
termed as official histories.
As elaborated by Linda Hutcheon (1988) in the
article “Historiographic Metafiction: The
Pastime of Past Time”

•As a strategy, it tries to shift

perspectives that have come from
received ideologies that have
been traditionally depicted by
history and literature.
As elaborated by Linda Hutcheon (1988) in the
article “Historiographic Metafiction: The Pastime
of Past Time”
• It tries to destabilize “received notions of
both history and fiction” and “directly
confront the past of literature – and of
historiography…”
• Done to make readers think about the validity
of history. It makes you wonder about the
different voices in history that have not been
heard, and how to allow these ghostly voices
to speak through literature.
YOU CAN DO IT!
•Write a short story or poem that would
be considered a retelling or
historiographic metafiction. Try to
approach it from a marginalized
character, someone who is not the main
character of the story. You can make a
few embellishments or changes to the
story.
RUBRICS:
50% Understanding of
the characters in the story
50% Creativity