Penelope’s Loom

Across Books 2, 19 and 24 the story of the loom is told. Penelope promised the suitors she would choose a husband when she finished the shroud for her father-in-law. She wove by day and undid the work by night. The object is the instrument that allowed her to hold the household for years. The educational value for a Butler reader is the concrete technology of the delay and the moment the secret is revealed. — Material culture — Vertical warp-weighted loom is the correct technology for the period and region. Clay or stone loom weights tension the warp. The shroud for Laertes is a large textile woven by day and deliberately unpicked by night for three years until a maid betrays the secret. Visible signs of unfinished work and loose weft are essential. Books (Butler): 2, 19, 24 Epithet: The warp-weighted loom of delay