#warp-weighted loom

Penelopeia: 

This woman is an odd figure in Greek mythology, not least because she is probably two figures conflated into one. The first is a mountain nymph who was the lover of Hermes and the mother of the goat-god Pan.

The second is the wife of the hero Odysseus, who is best known for her faithfulness in her husband’s absence, despite many suitors. She put off the men who sought her attentions by claiming to weave a burial shroud for her father-in-law, but unraveling part of it every night. Later Greek writers conflated the two and created elaborate explanations for how the very faithful wife of Odysseus might have been spirited away to Mount Cyllene to birth Pan.

The name Penelopeia or Penelope means weft-face, or possible needle-and-thread. Both figures are associated with sewing and weaving, and my illustration brief requested her weaving the face of Pan in a tapestry. I’ve chosen the ancient Greek warp-weighted loom, which was a little more light-weight than the massive Northern European version.