Climbing up to the lofty chamber with her women,
she fell to weeping for Odysseus, her beloved husband,
till watchful Athena sealed her eyes with welcome sleep.
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 21, 397-399. Each time Penelope goes to bed she weeps with grief over the loss of Odysseus, now gone twenty years. Her love and longing for her husband remains so strong that she is loyal to him after decades of absence.