Being a hopeless romantic I have read many love stories till now. I live with romance, emotions in my brain. There are many love stories since history and all of them are immortal. Like Romeo and Juliet, Napoleon and Josephine, Jane Eyre and Rochester, Laila and Majnu, Queen victoria and Prince Albert, Heer and Ranjha and many more.
The story which really touched me, inspired me or you can say just made me fall in love with it is of “Odysseus and Penelope” One of my favorite stories of all time. For me it is the best love story ever.
Penelope was the wife of Greek hero Odysseus. So Penelope waited twenty long years for the final return of her husband during which she devises various strategies to delay marrying one of the 108 suitors. (Ah! A love like this).
The story of the loom symbolizes the queen’s clever tactics.
As the pressure on Penelope to choose a suitor increased, she spent whole days in her room wondering and thinking how to delay the things. Although it was twenty long years but she still wanted to wait for Odysseus. she has devised tricks to delay her suitors, one of which is to pretend by weaving a burial shroud for her father in law and claiming that she will choose a suitor when she has finished. Every night for three long years, she undoes the part of the shroud, until one of her maid discovers this and tell it to all the suitors.
The endless weaving was only the first, Later also she devises a plot to get rid of the suitors, making them string Odysseus’s bow, when everyone knows that only Odysseus can do that. In the end, Odysseus turns to a secret that was theirs alone to convince her of his identity (and it was a happy ending 🙂 )
Despite the years, the distance, the pain, with an act of absolute freedom they come to their bed, their hidden secrets and share their stories with each other in the end.
In today’s era of left and right swipes, this kind of love is hard to find or may be impossible. Nobody forced her to remain faithful to her husband or nobody asked Odysseus to come back to his wife after the war but they both did. The more I think about it, the more I come to appreciate Penelope’s fortitude, intelligence, strength, fidelity and love. This might be the simple essence of love – their finding each other in absolute freedom and independence. They’ve made free choices about their lives and in that context have found each other again.
Like ethics, love isn’t limited to a specific category. Whether its Eros, Philia, Ludus, Pragma, Agape or peaceful, passionate, reassuring, it’s what partners choose to do with their love throughout their relationship that makes the love both true and ethical. Love is defined by the partner’s willingness to choose, to act.
Long as the day in the summer time
Deep as the wine dark sea
I’ll keep my heart with me.
Till you come to me!!
letters to unknown 