the twelve maids

E108672

The twelve maids are a chorus of servant girls in Margaret Atwood’s novella "The Penelopiad," whose collective voice offers a haunting, critical retelling of the events surrounding Odysseus’s return and their own execution.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
the twelve maids canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf chorus ⓘ
fictional character collective ⓘ
literary character group ⓘ
accuse Odysseus ⓘ
Telemachus ⓘ
appearsIn The Penelopiad ⓘ
basedOn the twelve hanged maids in Homer’s Odyssey ⓘ
contrastWith Odysseus’s heroic image ⓘ
Penelope’s self-presentation ⓘ
createdBy Margaret Atwood ⓘ
dieBy hanging ⓘ
executedByOrderOf Odysseus ⓘ
firstPublicationContext The Penelopiad (2005) by Margaret Atwood ⓘ
linked to: The Penelopiad
genreContext feminist revisionist mythmaking ⓘ
myth retelling ⓘ
languageOfWork English ⓘ
literaryFormUsed ballads ⓘ
burlesque ⓘ
choral songs ⓘ
courtroom drama pastiche ⓘ
poems ⓘ
medium novella ⓘ
narrativeFunction alternative perspective on The Odyssey ⓘ
chorus commenting on the main action ⓘ
collective narrator ⓘ
critical counterpoint to Odysseus’s story ⓘ
perspectiveOnEvents subaltern ⓘ
relatedWork The Odyssey ⓘ
linked to: Homer's Odyssey
relationshipTo Penelope ⓘ
linked to: Penelope (nymph)
roleInWork servant girls in Odysseus and Penelope’s household ⓘ
setting Ithaca ⓘ
socialStatus servants ⓘ
slaves ⓘ
symbolizes disposable female bodies ⓘ
erased historical witnesses ⓘ
exploited labor ⓘ
themeRelation class oppression ⓘ
gendered violence ⓘ
justice and injustice ⓘ
silenced voices in myth ⓘ
victimhood and complicity ⓘ
timePeriod mythic time of the Trojan War aftermath ⓘ
tone accusatory ⓘ
haunting ⓘ
ironic ⓘ
voiceType collective first-person plural voice ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Penelopiad → mainCharacter → the twelve maids ⓘ