Penelope is Holding Out For A Hero

Holding Out For A Hero--Frou Frou

I chose Penelope for my mortal in The Odyssey. She inspires me because she is so sure of her husband's return (even if it is "someday") and she is strong to that belief. She is even willing to unravel her weave just to prolong the amount of time Odysseus has to return and save her from having to remarry to a suitor. Even though we as the readers don't hear as much about Penelope as we do her son Telemachus, her faith in her husband's existence shows her strength of character. However, even though she shows strength in holding out for her husband, her vulnerability is shown when Athena sends the ghost (who is like her sister) to comfort an anxious Penelope, whose son has just left on a voyage to find word of her husband. Penelope can only so much as dream that her husband will return home safely, even though it has been an excruciating amount of time for him to be missing.

I chose the song Holding Out For A Hero, because that is exactly what Penelope is doing, she is holding out from marrying a suitor for her hero of a husband to come home. The title just seemed to fit her character and what is happening in her life seamlessly.

LYRICS:

Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night toss and turn and dream of what I need

(Chorus)
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life


Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet

(Chorus)

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I would swear that there's someone somewhere
Watching me

Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach
Like the fire in my blood

(Chorus)