Tegendraads

Penelope, the wife of the Greek hero Odysseus, is known as the 'faithful wife' who dutifully waits at home behind the loom for her husband to return. But in Homer's Odyssey, she is described as an equal partner to Odysseus. This small exhibition tells her side of the story, illustrated by objects from the museum collection and drawings by illustrator Lena Addink.

You can find the exhibition in the space behind the Egyptian temple, in the museum's free-to-access entrance hall.

Weaving as a weapon:
During Odysseus's absence, Penelope had to fend off the advances of the men who wanted to marry her to take Odysseus's place as king. She promised to choose one of them after she had made a shroud for her father-in-law Laërtes. But every night she unraveled what she had woven during the day. Odysseus describes this in the Odyssey as an act that brought her 'eternal fame'. Normally, that could only be earned by men on the battlefield. But Penelope had achieved it through weaving. Weaving was not only her duty as a housewife, but also the way she could exert influence on her own life.

Modern Penelopes:
Recently, several retellings of the Odyssey have appeared in which Penelope and her complexity take center stage. Examples include Penelope by Margaret Atwood (2005) and the trilogy by Claire North (Ithaka, 2022). Penelope's resistance has also become a symbol for other forms of female resistance, for example during the Second World War. The exhibition *Tegendraads* shows how an old story can take on new meaning.