In her essay "Penelope as a Moral Agent", Helene Foley attempts to discuss Penelope, a major character in Homer's Odyssey Homer, in terms of classical Athenian representations of women and, as her title suggests, in terms of what she calls a "moral agent." In her introductory paragraph, she sets out the guidelines established by Aristotle and his contemporaries that constitute a moral agent: the character must make an ethical and moral decision "upon which actions turn...without critical knowledge of the circumstances" (Foley 93). ). To this end, Foley ultimately decides that Penelope meets these standards and adds that her social, family, and personal responsibilities play a vital role in making this decision. Foley's examples and his in-depth analysis of the Odyssey all support his thesis as I have interpreted it. There are, however, problems in his comparison of the Odyssey with outside texts (notably that of Carol Gilligan), inconsistencies in quotations and style, and examples that have little or nothing to do with his thesis . The biggest problem I could find in this essay is the ignorance of a few facts that could possibly be interpreted as being in opposition to its conclusions. Since I am not familiar with and have not read any of the outside texts that Foley references (Oedipus Tyrannos, Aristotle's Poetics, Politics, and Ethics, the medical texts of Hippocrates, and Carol Gilligan's feminist theory), I can only assume that his interpretations of these texts are correct. Regardless, she uses Aristotle and Hippocrates to construct a historical framework by which she can judge Homer's fictional character Penelope. This method would have led to a good argument if it had included in its analysis a ...... middle of paper ...... to be true about Odysseus's whereabouts. It's this early aspect of his thought process when he made the decision to present the arc to the suitors as a more pressing concern for Penelope and who ultimately makes his decision for her. Works Cited and Consulted Diana Buitron-Oliver and Beth Cohen, "Between Skylla and Penelope: Female Characters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art", pp. 29-58. Richard Brilliant, "Kirke's Men: Swine and Sweethearts", pp. 165-73. Helene Foley, "Penelope as Moral Agent", in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff Side (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115. Jennifer Neils, “Les Femmes Fatales: Skylla and the Sirens in Greek Art,” pp. 175-84. Marilyn Arthur Katz, Penelope's Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey (Princeton 1991). Nancy Felson-Rubin, Concerning Penelope: From Court to Poetics (Princeton 1994).