HarperCollins 1983 paperback edition (the edition I own) – my favorite cover art for the book!

(6) BARBARA WALKER –

WOMEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHS & SECRETS (1983)

As the title indicates, this is a general encyclopedia of mythology, including classical mythology, including entries for subjects from the Odyssey – most notably for Penelope.

Like Graves and indeed borrowing from him as a reference, the entries are really interpretative notes or commentary – decoding or reconstructing mythology to the monomyth of the Goddess or prehistoric matriarchal religion.

Essentially, throughout all entries there is Walker’s monomyth of the archetypal Goddess throughout mythology and history – or rather prehistory (or perhaps herstory), as the Goddess was displaced, firstly into many goddesses, and secondly by male gods or God.

Or in this case, heroes or hero. There’re not many entries directly for the Odyssey – Odysseus himself does not get one – but there are brief entries for some of its female figures such as Circe, the Sirens, and above all, Penelope.

Teasing out Walker’s adaptation or interpretation of the Odyssey from such entries, primarily that for Penelope (which cites Graves’ The Greek Myths), Walker presents Penelope as yet another manifestation of the Goddess – essentially in the same role as Athena as patron of Odysseus, particularly as a goddess of fate spinning and unspinning the thread of his life (represented by the shroud of his father) such that he has a literally charmed life, escaping dangers and death.