Homer

"Zeus has torn away my joy.
But there's something else that mortifies me now.
Your way is a far cry from the time-honored way
of suitors locked in rivalry, striving to win
some noble woman, a wealthy man's daughter.
They bring in their own calves and lambs
to feast the friends of the bride-to-be, yes,
and shower her with gleaming gifts as well.
They don't devour the woman's goods scot-free."
Staunch Odysseus glowed with joy to hear all this --
his wife's trickery luring gifts from her suitors now,
enchanting their hearts with suave seductive words
but all the while with something else in mind.
(Homer's 'Odyssey', Book 18, lines 307-318.)

I chose this passage, for it reveals a new side of Penelope's character. Until now she has been pretty passive and lax. She doesn't really seem to be caring about what is going on. She is annoyed with the suitors, and weeps for her husband, but doesn't really do anything. However, in this passage, she decides to trick her cadging suitors, who have been carousing and causing quite a pandemonium. She tells them to start courting her like real men and give her rich gifts, so she will be more inclined to pick a new husband. However, she has no intention of marrying any of them, any time soon. She, like Odysseus, is able to deceive her enemies easily with fanciful fables. Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, hears her and is impressed. He realizes she is much like him, and he is enraptured. He is proud, thinking "yes, that is my wife up there robbing those pernicious suitors blind. Ha, ha." It almost makes me laugh just thinking about it -- the interesting development of Odysseus's wife, Penelope.