"All the nobles who rule the islands round about,
…they court me against my will, they lay waste my house.
So I pay no heed to strangers, suppliants at my door,
not even heralds out on their public errands here –
I yearn for Odysseus, always, my heart pines away."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 19, lines 145, 149-151. Penelope describes the hostile environment that she is trapped in without Odysseus. Ithaca’s nobles besiege her and ravage her house in their attempts to woo her against her wishes. But she only has desires for Odysseus. Her loyalty to her missing husband in the face of the suitors’ aggressive advances is extraordinary.