Early in Book 20 of the Odyssey, on the eve of the bow contest for her hand in marriage, Penelope wakes from sleep, cries until she is sated, and then prays to Artemis for death. She asks Artemis either to shoot her with an arrow at once or to send a storm wind that will snatch her up and cast her into the streams of Oceanus, just as the storm winds carried off the daughters of Pandareus (20.61–66). Penelope then elaborates on the Pandareids’ story, describing how, after the gods killed their parents, a quartet of Olympian goddesses reared these orphaned sisters, gave them all the qualities of desirable womanhood, and then sought to arrange their marriages until Harpies snatched the maidens away and made them servants of the Erinyes (20.67–78). After offering this brief narrative as a paradigm, Penelope renews her earlier prayer, explaining that she would rather disappear or die than please a man inferior to Odysseus. Penelope’s prayer to replicate the Pandareids’ demise has received only sparing critical attention,1 but represents, as I will argue, an important avenue for interpreting Penelope’s character and narrative role in the Odyssey. Since the 1980s, feminist scholars have been debating to what degree Penelope is presented as an autonomous and actantial subject.2 Does she shrewdly influence the epic’s plot to her own ends, or is she helplessly subordinated to male interests and constrained by patriarchal structures in an androcentric narrative? If she indeed has a hand in directing the plot, why does the (male) poet accord her this agency?3 Central to any answer are the corollary and long-disputed questions of what Penelope is thinking and what she desires, and also the degree to which this interiority is (and is intended by the poet to be) coherent or knowable. When does she recognize Odysseus, how does she feel about his return, does she really hate the suitors, and can any of this be determined?

中文翻译：

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熊猫人和潘多拉：定义奥德赛中佩内洛普的主观性

在《奥德赛》第 20 卷的早期，在为她的婚姻举行弓箭比赛的前夕，佩内洛普从睡梦中醒来，哭到心满意足，然后向阿尔忒弥斯祈祷死亡。她要求阿尔忒弥斯立即用箭射她，或者发出暴风，将她抓起并扔进大洋洲的溪流中，就像暴风带走了潘达瑞斯的女儿一样（20.61-66）。佩内洛普接着详细阐述了熊猫人的故事，描述了众神杀死他们的父母后，四位奥林匹斯女神如何抚养这些孤女，赋予她们所有可取的女性特质，然后设法安排她们的婚姻，直到鹰身女妖抢走了少女离开并让他们成为厄里耶斯的仆人（20.67-78）。在提供这个简短的叙述作为范式之后，佩内洛普重申了她之前的祈祷，解释说，她宁愿消失或死去，也不愿取悦一个不如奥德修斯的男人。佩内洛普 (Penelope) 祈求重现熊猫人之灭亡的祈祷只得到了很少的批评关注，1 但正如我将要论证的那样，它代表了解释佩内洛普在奥德赛中的性格和叙事角色的重要途径。自 1980 年代以来，女权主义学者一直在争论佩内洛普在多大程度上被呈现为一个自主和行动的主体。 2 她是否精明地影响史诗的情节以达到自己的目的，还是无奈地屈从于男性利益并受到男权结构的约束？以男性为中心的叙事？如果她确实参与了情节的导演，那么（男性）诗人为什么要赋予她这个代理权？ 3 任何答案的核心都是关于佩内洛普的想法和她的愿望的必然和长期争论的问题，以及这种内在性（以及诗人意图）连贯或可知的程度。她什么时候认出奥德修斯，对他的归来有何感想，她是不是真的讨厌追求者，这其中有什么可以确定的吗？