Military Families In The Odyssey

The Odyssey Research Paper Ashanti once said, "I have a tremendous amount of respect for military families. To have to worry about your loved ones and still try and live a normal life is extremely hard." For most military families it is hard to maintain a normal life with the constant worry about a loved one in the military on your mind. This worrying causes a great deal of stress and puts enormous strains on military families. Statistics show that Students with deployed parents experience significantly higher rates of behavioral issues than their peers. Military children also tend to experience increased school movement, which decreases achievement and increases the drop-out risk. (Rossen 1) The strain put on military families is very intense,
These women can worry and stress about what is happening to their spouse while he is away at war. The thought of their husband being in any kind of danger would make their stomach turn. One could assume that Penelope felt this same way. “When Penelope had wept to her heart’s content she said in answer, ‘Now, stranger I mean to test you and find out whether you entertained my husband and his godlike company in your palace as you say. Tell me what sort of clothes he was wearing and what he looked like; and describe the men who were with him.” Pg. 18. This quote shows that Penelope was so worried about her husband that she wasn’t ready to accept a fraud back as her husband. She wanted to make sure her husband was truly alive before getting her hopes up too high. As Penelope questions remarriage, she needs to know for a fact her husband is gone, and this quote plays an enormous factor in her doubt that Odysseus is actually gone. Another situation Penelope faced while Odysseus was away for twenty years was the suitors. Penelope managed to avoid marrying one of them by saying that she was weaving a shroud for Laertes, and only when she was finished weaving it would she marry on of them. (Simmons 1) This struggle Penelope faced is very common in present day military wives also. It may be hard for a woman to move on from her husband once he is gone. “’At first I viewed it as betrayal,” says Tanya Kyle, American Sniper widow, talking about dating after her husband was gone. Dating and remarriage are struggles now for military wives and were struggles then. Another problem military wives might also face today is financial issues. It may be a problem maintaining a household of children by herself and working a job at the same time. This could present a few financial issues today. Penelope may not have faced this problem since she and Odysseus were wealthy