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The Penelopiad
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
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The Penelopiad
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Summary
For Penelope, wife of Odysseus, maintaining a kingdom while her husband was off fighting the Trojan War was not a simple business. Already aggrieved that he had been lured away due to the shocking behaviour of her beautiful cousin Helen, Penelope must bring up her wayward son, face down scandalous rumours, and keep over 100 lustful, greedy, and bloodthirsty suitors at bay....
And then, when Odysseus finally returns and slaughters the murderous suitors, he brutally hangs Penelope's 12 beloved maids. What were his motives? And what was Penelope really up to?
What listeners say about The Penelopiad
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ms m g
- 18-12-19
Mindblowing
A great take on an old story. Gets in your head when you listen. Chorus grates at first but then works very well. I'm teaching the Odyssey so it helps me offer alternative interpretation. I love the end in particular and it offered great theories about the moon goddesses /maids. I also loved the court room idea. Margaret Atwood as ever makes you think again!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- nathan
- 08-03-20
The Hanged Maids
I really enjoyed the audiobook, it’s a great retelling of Homer’s Odyssey.
The only fault I have is the verses where the audio is just layered instead of a couple of different voice actors.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- J Z A
- 09-03-24
Fascinating
Short but long enough. Another complex tale that went mostly over my head. It is certainly a work of quality but I am not sure I could recommend it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Treehugger
- 13-03-21
Amusing, witty and irreverent!
I really enjoyed this story. Told in the person of Odysseus' wife Penelope, in a fun, modern style, it relates the events of the Iliad from her point of view, stuck at home. Her early life is told in some detail, and her relationship with her cousin, the spoilt, bitchy Helen of Troy. I really liked hearing about all their day to day beliefs, gods, evenrts, myths etc. Several times I laughed out loud - it's not presented as a comedy, but Penelope's personality is so acerbic and witty that she brought an irreverent mischief to everything she describes.
The narrator is absolutely wonderful, beautifully expressive and conveys all the emotions and bringing the different characters amazingly to life.
Margaret Atwood has a particular gift for creating alternate worlds in such a way that the listener becomes fully immersed. Such a breath of fresh air after some other authors' attempts at trying to bring dull history books to life by fleshing out the characters and events a little ... This is a full body experience as opposed to a museum tour!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 31-07-19
The Odyssey: Penelope's side
This is so well crafted. Taking Homer's 'Odyssey' to another level. It was the perfect length.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mspringham
- 12-02-20
Eh... kinda boring
I've studied the Odyssey a fair bit and found some of the characterisation of Penelope and Odysseus kinda strange. Being wily and outsmarting people was the foundation of Heroism, and directly linked to Hermes i.e. the trickster, so branding it as a negative trait seems really anathema to Classical myth. The relationship with the maids was under explored and really not central to the story as I had expected from the blurb.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Carla
- 17-04-21
Surprising perspective of an much derived source
Really appreciated the Greek tragedy style chorus of the 12 maids; certainly more than I had initially anticipated.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sue
- 18-08-17
Tongue and cheek feminist outlook of mythology
This is pretty hilarious. Once again, the master of feminist prose Margaret Atwood has created a modern day version of Penelope from the Greek mythology of Odysseus in which she is no longer alive. She's rather outspoken, feisty and sly attempting to live with her brutish husband while on Earth. At the same time, her hatred for Helen of Troy has seeped into her afterlife as well. I love the ending talking about liposuction and heels. A fun listen.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MRS R Thomas
- 24-06-22
Witty and brilliant.
Pure genius once again, Atwood never fails to open my eyes. I wish this book was about when I did Latin and Greek at school!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Eszter Pos
- 01-04-23
Sharp and touching
Witty and occasionally emotional,filled with clever humour and sarcasm, honesty and doubtfulness. The chorus lines are phenomenal both in writing and narration. Totally recommended hidden gem stone for everyone.
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