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We learn that Penelope is a smart, clever, tactful and perspicacious woman through several selections of The Odyssey, such as her trickery of the suitors with the spool. She knows the beggar was Odysseus because even though Odysseus’ appearance was slightly altered by Athena, he is still Odysseus and still looks like Odysseus. When she realizes the beggar is Odysseus, she is smart enough to realize to not make a big deal out of it, because if she does he may get trouble from the suitors. Assuming Penelope knows the beggar is Odysseus, their conversation is a code, in which she confirms his intentions. Although Penelope knows it is Odysseus, not everything in the book supports this theory. Penelope, wife of Odysseus shows her cleverness many times through out the book. Penelope said that she would choose a husband as soon as she finished weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus’ father, Laertes. But each night, she carefully undid the knitting that she had completed during the day, so the shroud would never be finished. This showed her attribute of