In A Penelopean Poetics, Barbara Clayton defines the true texture of Homer's Odyssey. Carefully attending to the warp and woof of recent scholarship on Greek epic and oral poetry as well as recent psychoanalytic and feminist criticism, Clayton beautifully and simply identifies precisely those threads in the weave of the poem that are most Penelopean in their subtle cunning. In her surprising yet persuasive new reading, Odysseus and Homer emerge as most themselves when they are most like Penelope.

Ralph J. Hexter, Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature and Dean of Arts and Humanities, University of California, Berkeley

In Dr. Clayton's book she establishes a productive alliance between up-to-date theoretical work on women's studies and current thinking about the nature of oral poetry. Her lucid understanding of the ideas of Lacan and Cixous (among others) gives her valuable new insights into the part played by gender in understanding the Odyssey, and she includes an excellent study of the figure of Penelope in later literature. The book extends our appreciation of the Odyssey in exciting new ways, and should become essential reading both for classical scholars and for those interested in literature generally...

Mark W. Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Classics, Stanford University

In Dr. Clayton's book she establishes a productive alliance between up-to-date theoretical work on women's studies and current thinking about the nature of oral poetry. Her lucid understanding of the ideas of Lacan and Cixous (among others) gives her valuable new insights into the part played by gender in understanding the Odyssey, and she includes an excellent study of the figure of Penelope in later literature. The book extends our appreciation of the Odyssey in exciting new ways, and should become essential reading both for classical scholars and for those interested in literature generally.

Mark W. Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Classics, Stanford University