Suitor 3

SCENE I7 Penel?pe of the divine form, kindest and most

THE SUITORS STUFF THEIR FACES sagacious of all women! Take pity on me!
Suitor 4
Penelope Queen Penelope! Royal widow! You owe it to
By this stage there was an increasing amount of suffering mankind to choose a new king for your
curiosity about me, as there was bound to be about the consort, and put us out of our miserable suspense.
wife - or was it the widow? - of such a famous man;
if Odysseus were proved to have died, might I be open Penelope
to other offers? But Odysseus is alive! An oracle has said so.
The suitors did not appear on the scene right away. Suitor I
For the first nine or ten years of Odysseus' absence we The sea teems with marauding pirates. They're fond
knew where he was - he was at Troy - and we knew of attacking palaces.
he was still alive. So the suitors waited. They waited Suitor 3
until hope had dwindled and was flickering out. Looting. Stealing. Carrying women off as slaves.
The Suitors start arriving in their droves. By the end Suitor 2
of her speech, Penelope is surrounded. It's not safe for a qu�en here all alone - a rich queen,
First five came, then ten, then fifty - the more there such as yourself - without a king to protect her.
were, the more were attr:�cted, each fearing to miss Suitor 3
out on the perpetual feasting and the _marriage lottery; Her, and her son.
They were like vultures when they spot a dead cow:
one drops, then another, until finally every vulture for Suitor I
miles around is tearing up the carcass. You wouldn't want anything to happen to him!
Penelope hurries out. Suitors STOP
Wherever she turns, a Suitor stands in her way. Telemachus, now a teenager on the verge of manhood
enters. He's displeased. - '
Suitors Start: Here comes the little snot now.
Suitor I
Fair Penelope! Suitor 2
Acts like he owns the place.
Suitor 2
Beauteous Penelope! My knees melt at the sight of The Suitors mock Telemachus with a reprise of
you! . Penelope's lullaby.

44 45