How Did She Reject 108 Suitors While Her Husband Was Away for 20 Years? The Smartest Woman in 'The Odyssey' Weaves a Shroud by Day, Then Secretly Unravels It at Night—Why?

Many people read 'The Odyssey' and are most familiar with Odysseus’s journey: after the 10-year Trojan War, he endured crises like the Cyclops, the witch Circe, and the Sirens, finally returning to his homeland Ithaca after roughly 20 years. But while Odysseus struggled to return home, his wife Penelope was also facing a prolonged crisis in Ithaca.

With her husband gone for years, people began to believe Odysseus was dead. A large group of noble youths started gathering in his palace, demanding that Penelope choose one of them as a new husband. According to 'The Odyssey,' there were as many as 108 suitors.

Penelope couldn’t simply expel this group or indefinitely delay them with a flat 'I won’t remarry.' So she devised an extremely clever plan: she would weave cloth in front of everyone during the day, then secretly unravel everything she had woven each night.

With this seemingly simple trick, she delayed the suitors for three full years.

Are there really 108 suitors in 'The Odyssey'? The original text gives an exact count.

In Book 16, Odysseus has secretly returned to Ithaca and reunited with his son Telemachus. When they prepare to confront the suitors occupying the palace, Telemachus reports the enemy count to his father: 52 from Dulichium, 24 from Same, 20 from Zacynthus, and 12 from Ithaca itself.

Adding them up: 52 + 24 + 20 + 12 = 108.

And these 108 suitors weren’t just seeking marriage. From the beginning, 'The Odyssey' describes them living in Odysseus’s palace, drinking, feasting, slaughtering livestock, and consuming the wealth Odysseus had left behind.

In other words, Penelope wasn’t just dealing with 'a husband gone, many suitors arriving.' She was facing a crisis where her home, property, and social order were being gradually seized by outsiders.

How did Penelope reject 108 suitors? She first proposed: 'I’ll remarry—after I finish weaving.'

Instead of outright refusing the suitors, Penelope offered a seemingly reasonable condition. In Book 2, she sets up a large loom in the palace and tells the suitors she will consider remarriage—but only after completing a burial shroud for Odysseus’s elderly father, Laertes.

Since Laertes was old, Penelope feared criticism if he died without a proper shroud. This reason sounded fair, and the suitors agreed.

The problem? Penelope never intended to finish the shroud.

Weave by day, unravel by night—she fooled everyone for three years

Every day, Penelope sat at the loom and worked. The suitors saw the cloth grow gradually, believing that if they waited patiently, she would eventually finish the shroud and choose a husband.

But at night, everything changed. When no one was watching, Penelope would secretly unravel the cloth she had woven during the day. She advanced by day, then undid it by night—starting over each morning.

So the suitors saw her working daily, yet the shroud never neared completion.

'The Odyssey' states she deceived the suitors this way for three years. In the fourth year, a maid who knew the secret revealed it, and the suitors forced her to complete the shroud.

Thus, Penelope did not delay the suitors for 20 years with this trick. Odysseus was away for about 20 years, but the weaving ruse lasted only three years and was exposed in the fourth.

Penelope’s greatest intelligence: She never gave the suitors a final answer

The most brilliant aspect of this scheme wasn’t the act of unraveling the cloth. It was that Penelope never gave the suitors a definitive answer.

If she had said, 'I will never remarry,' she would have openly rejected all 108. But if she chose one, Odysseus’s estate and power structure could have shifted.

So she chose a third path. She didn’t say no—she said, 'Once I finish this task.'

And as long as the secret remained hidden, the task would never be complete. She appeared to accept the suitors’ rules while using 'time' as a shield to protect herself.

Penelope was more than just 'the wife who waited 20 years'

Later generations often portray Penelope as 'the faithful wife who waited 20 years.' But rereading 'The Odyssey,' she is far more complex.

Penelope wasn’t passive, sitting idly at home. With no military power, a missing husband, and a son not yet in full control, she faced a group of noblemen who occupied her home, consumed her wealth, and demanded her decision.

Her weapon wasn’t a sword—it was strategy. And this mirrors Odysseus himself.

Odysseus’s greatest trait isn’t brute strength but cunning, deception, and adaptability. He escaped the Cyclops’ cave through trickery and, upon returning to Ithaca, disguised himself to observe the situation before acting.

Penelope displayed the same qualities. While Odysseus used wisdom to return home, Penelope used wisdom to buy time and preserve the home he could return to.

Therefore, the true brilliance of 'The Odyssey' may not just be 'a man’s 20-year journey back to his wife.' It’s also about how, while Odysseus fought to return, Penelope fought in her own way to preserve a home worth returning to.