'The so-called "reverse simile" in which Penelope's gladness at seeing her husband is like the gladness of the survivors of a ship wrecked by Poseidon who have managed to swim to shore safely (Bk 23.233-40), has particular force because Odysseus himself in Books 5 and 12 has been represented as such a survivor. This simile and others that reverse normal male and female roles and experiences (Bk 8.523) are of special thematic importance in a poem that seems to value others' viewpoints and that is concerned with analogies between the heroism of Odysseus and that of Penelope and with the powerful role of Penelope and women generally.'

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