This very classical fine bronze sculpture depicts the heroic Penelope gazing off to the horizon, waiting attentively for some sign of return for her long-lost husband Ulysses, who has been away fighting the Trojan War for years. Over her left shoulder she bears a death shroud that she has been weaving for King Laertes, Ulysses’ aging father. In her right hand she holds a spool of thread. And at her feet, a solitary hermit crab (who is perhaps a secret agent of Athena, Ulysses’ greatest benefactor), accompanies the faithful Penelope while she awaits her heroic husband.

Throughout my life I’ve been deeply moved by the largely unsung female heroes of life, history, and mythology, and in Penelope I found a heroine as noble as any male hero, and nobler than most. Penelope testifies that heroism is a virtue of the human spirit that transcends gender, time, and culture.

THE METAMORPHOSES COLLECTION