"You, Antinous! Violent, vicious, scheming –
you, they say, are the best man your age in Ithaca,
best for eloquence, counsel. You’re nothing of the sort!
Madman, why do you weave destruction for Telemachus?
…Stop, I tell you,
stop all this, and make the rest stop too."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 16, lines 463-466, 479-480. A furious Penelope has been warned by the herald Medon that the suitors plan to kill her son Telemachus. She is particularly angry at Antinous, because Odysseus saved his father’s life when a mob was out to destroy him. She demands that Antinous stop the murder plot and make the rest of the conspirators stop as well. She brands him a vicious and violent madman. Penelope shows a lot of bravery in the way she confronts Antinous over his scheming.